{"id":12376,"date":"2023-04-25T13:02:39","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T17:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/?p=12376"},"modified":"2023-04-25T13:02:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T17:02:39","slug":"finland-becomes-31st-nation-to-join-nato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2023\/04\/25\/finland-becomes-31st-nation-to-join-nato\/","title":{"rendered":"Finland Becomes 31st Nation to Join NATO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Catherine Anderson<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><b><i>Staff Writer<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finland became the 31st member-state of NATO on April 4, which more than doubles the alliance&#8217;s border with Russia, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/04\/04\/finland-nato-official-member-russia-invasion\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Axios<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In an interview with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2023\/04\/07\/finland-nato-expansion-accession-russia-ukraine-europe\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Foreign Policy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Matthew Kroenig, a political science professor at Georgetown University, argues that Finland\u2019s membership in NATO marks the largest boost to NATO capacity since West Germany joined in 1955. This addition, which added 1300 kilometers, or 830 miles to the alliance\u2019s border with Russia, marks a significant blow to Russia, writes <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/04\/04\/europe\/finland-joins-nato-intl\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CNN<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously attempted to undermine NATO and prior to his invasion of Ukraine, CNN continues, he demanded that it refrain from further expansion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finland\u2019s membership demonstrates that Putin has been unable to deter NATO expansion, and a further blow could come soon in the addition of Sweden. The two nations applied jointly, writes <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/finland-nato-membership-turkey-742e13c09656f31081a73cc9803f18f1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the Associated Press<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and planned to enter the alliance together. Sweden\u2019s application, however, is currently being held up by T\u00fcrkiye, whose President has stated that his country will not approve Sweden\u2019s admission until certain disputes between the two countries are resolved, continues the Associated Press. Hungary also has not approved Sweden\u2019s admission, though it is not clear when that will happen, according to the Associated Press. Unanimous approval is required for a nation to join NATO, so Sweden will not be a member until T\u00fcrkiye and Hungary approve its application.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both Finland and Sweden could be important assets for NATO, due in part to the strategic benefit of their geographical locations. According to Foreign Policy, once Sweden joins, the Baltic Sea will be controlled by NATO members, making it much easier for the alliance to defend the Baltic states in case of a Russian attack. While most experts consider the addition of Finland a win in terms of security in Europe, there are concerns that the expansion could also cause problems for NATO. As Kroenig points out in Foreign Policy, NATO is now responsible for defending the new border with Russia, which has now more than doubled in length. He continues, however, that this may not be a huge issue, as Finland has proven itself capable of doing so itself. Russia also made statements insinuating that the nations\u2019 admission to NATO is actually harmful to the security of Europe. According to CNN, the Kremlin stated that if NATO sends any troops or equipment to Finland, it would increase its own forces in the area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to these potential threats, the domestic implications of joining NATO within Finland are complex. Finland recently had an election in which Prime Minister Sanna Marin, a member of the left-leaning Social Democrat party, lost her chance at a second term. Instead, the National Coalition Party, which <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/finlands-sanna-marin-faces-tight-election-as-country-prepares-to-join-nato-570098a3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> describes as center-right, led by likely Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, won the majority of the votes. This change marks a shift to the right amongst Finnish voters, which is indicative of a larger trend in Europe. As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/finland-right-sanna-marin-election-nato-rcna77893\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">NBC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> News writes, Marin was popular in Finland because of her handling of COVID-19 and her support of Ukraine following Russia\u2019s invasion. According to CNN, the invasion was a big part of why popular support in Finland and Sweden shifted in favor of joining NATO. Marin was voted out primarily for economic reasons, especially concerning the national debt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Finland is set to join NATO under a more conservative government, the move will require Helsinki to increase defense spending, which may not ease concerns about the national debt, the Wall Street Journal reports. Regardless, the shift towards the conservative party is not unique to Finland. As NBC News states, Sweden recently went through a similar shift, which was followed by Italy electing its most conservative government since World War II. Spain\u2019s current left-leaning government, is also under immense pressure, and its more right-leaning parties are favored in the upcoming December elections, NBC News furthers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the Wall Street Journal reports, the elections in Finland reflect the recent spike in nationalism across Europe. Its decision to join NATO also reflects Europe\u2019s desire to unify against Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Both of these are indicative of a major shift in the political landscape in Europe and could have massive implications as these situations continue to develop. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew Kroenig, a political science professor at Georgetown University, argues that Finland\u2019s membership in NATO marks the largest boost to NATO capacity since West Germany joined in 1955.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2531],"tags":[399,404,1386],"class_list":["post-12376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-april-2023","tag-nato","tag-elections","tag-finland"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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