Finland said on Thursday it would apply for NATO membership without delay.” Another Nordic country, Sweden, is also expected to seek membership. The decision angered Russia, whose military is struggling with its war in Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in part to prevent an expansion of the NATO military alliance. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement, “Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay. We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.” The announcement signaled that the Nordic country has dropped its position of neutrality that it held throughout the Cold War. The two leaders added, “NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance.” Finland’s inclusion in NATO would bring the military alliance’s expansion right up to the Russian border. Finland has the longest border with Russia out of all the European Union’s 27 members. Russian officials had warned of “military and political repercussions” if Sweden and Finland decided to join NATO. Russian officials had also spoken about the possibility of stationing nuclear-armed missiles on the Baltic Sea. Finland’s announcement came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both Finland and Sweden to sign a military cooperation agreement. Britain said on Wednesday that it would help the two Nordic nations if they came under attack. Niinisto wrote on Twitter that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Finland’s firm support for Ukraine and the country’s plan to join NATO. Niinisto said Zelenskyy “expressed his full support for it.” The announcement came as Russia suffered another setback in its invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces this week drove Russian troops out of the area around its second-largest city Kharkiv. Russia already withdrew its forces from the area surrounding the capital, Kyiv.
