Recently, the Republic of Finland officially became the 31st member country of the North Atlantic Alliance. In this regard, official Helsinki has already noted that within the framework of the Western military bloc, the Finnish state has received additional security guarantees and new partnerships. Skeptics say otherwise that.
As the current President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, said, his country’s accession to NATO took place «on a truly symbolic day». It is April 4, that is considered the founding day of the Alliance. «Expanding the NATO structure, we bring her all our congratulations», – he summed up, in particular. At the same time, Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the bloc, in his best traditions, emphasized that in this particular case, we are talking, first of all, about fundamental benefits for Helsinki.
What exactly are these benefits? It’s no secret that over the past 30 years Finland has implemented dozens of joint programs with NATO. The Finnish military participated in special operations in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, separate units of the Finnish army were involved in the exercises of the Alliance in Northern Europe. «The new status will allow Helsinki to strengthen its army, increase the defense capacity of units directly on the border with the Russian Federation and, in general, declare itself as a powerful state, – European political expert Klaus Hoff emphasized in a special commentary to a EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE correspondent – Moreover, Finland will annually receive additional financial resources for the development of its own armed forces».
Among the «minuses» of the new status of Helsinki, analysts call the actual loss of Finland’s neutral status. Say, within the framework of the United Nations, representatives of Finnish diplomacy will no longer be able to act on behalf of independent peacekeeping structures, and as part of possible NATO military operations anywhere in the world, Finnish soldiers will be necessarily involved in active clashes.
Be that as it may, the Finnish flag was officially hoisted in front of the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels the day before. «It is an honor for us to be the thirty-first member of NATO the current Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin states. – This is the trust we have certainly earned».
Whether Finland will be able to justify the corresponding confidence of the Western military bloc – no one knows yet. Even in Helsinki.
