Finland joins NATO bloc

Finland joins NATO bloc

Subject: International Affairs

Section :International Organizations

Concept:

• Finland officially became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
• This latest move marks a major shift in the security landscape in northeastern Europe amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
• e. now that Finland has joined NATO, if Finland is invaded or attacked, all NATO members would come to its aid.
• The move also marks the end of an era of military non-alignment for Finland.
• Finland, after repelling an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during the Second World War, had opted for non-alignment and maintain friendly relations with Russia.
• Finland’s accession is seen as a setback for Russia as Finland shares a 1,340-km eastern frontier with Russia.
• Russia has said that it would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to the move.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization:

• It is an intergovernmental military alliance.
• Established by Washington treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.
• Headquarters — Brussels, Belgium.
• Headquarters of Allied Command Operations — Mons, Belgium.

Significance:

• It constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

Composition:

• Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 30. The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North Macedonia on 27 March 2020 (Before Finland).
• NATO membership is open to “any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.”

Objectives:

• Political – NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defense and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
• Military – NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.
• These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty – Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organizations.

NATO membership:

• NATO had 30 members before the accession of Finland.
• In 1949, there were 12 founding members of the Alliance: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• The other member countries are: Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) and North Macedonia (2020).