4/16/23

By Aditi Jha

In a historic move against Russian aggression, Finland joined NATO. It is now under the defense pact, which says that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Though NATO says that it's a defensive alliance and isn't against Russia, Moscow says that the NATO countries' delivery of heavy weaponry to Ukraine shows that they are determined to destroy Russia. One of the main reasons that Russia decided to invade Ukraine was to stop NATO's borders from expanding, something that it felt would be a threat to its security. Finland joining NATO has caused the border with Russia to double. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he was "tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank Mr. Putin for, because he once again here has precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia's aggression." Moscow has warned of "counter-measures," saying that "Finland has become one of the small members of (NATO) that doesn't decide anything, losing its special voice in international affairs. We are sure that history will judge this hasty step." Reuters reports that the people of Finland were very supportive of the decision, mainly because they wanted protection against Russia, and BBC News reports that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, support in Finland towards joining NATO rose to 80 percent. Finland earlier had tried to maintain good relations with Russia, even after they fought against an attempted Soviet invasion in 1939 and were ruled by Russia for over a century, gaining independence in 1917.  Now in retaliation, Russia plans increase their military capacity in the west and northwest. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine congratulated Finland, saying that "Russian aggression clearly proves that only collective guarantees, only preventive guarantees, can be reliable." Finland is now the 31st member of NATO. NATO's rules state that if a country wants to join, they can, as long as they are willing to follow the principles of the founding treaty. However, if a member state chooses, it can veto a new country that wants to join. Finland and neighboring Sweden applied to join NATO last year, but members Turkey and Hungary have been blocking Sweden from joining. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleged that Sweden has allowed Kurdish militants to demonstrate on the streets, while Hungary has grievances over Sweden's criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's policies. Ukraine membership has also been urged by Finland joining NATO. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that "Finland's accession is a clear message that the time to revise old strategies and old perceptions has come and there is no better solution to ensuring Euro-Atlantic security as a whole than eventual membership of Ukraine in NATO." 

That's the news for today! Stay safe!