Finland has become the 31st
member of the Nato security alliance, and its flag will soon be raised at the
alliance's headquarters.
The Finnish foreign minister signed the accession document, and
handed it to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Finland's accession is a setback for Russia's Vladimir Putin,
who repeatedly complained of Nato's expansion before his full-scale invasion of
Ukraine.
The length of Russia's border with Nato member states has now
doubled.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia would be
"watching closely" what happens in Finland, describing Nato's
enlargement as a "violation of our security and our national
interests".
Finland shares a 1,340-km (832-mile) eastern frontier with
Russia and formally applied to join Nato with Sweden last May because of
Russia's war.
They had previously both adopted a policy of non-alignment. But
after the Ukraine invasion, they chose the protection of Nato's Article Five,
which says an attack on one member is an attack on all.
In effect, it means if Finland were invaded or attacked, all
Nato members - including the US - would come to its aid.
Russia's invasion prompted a surge in Finnish public opinion
towards joining Nato to 80% in favour.
"This will make Finland safer and Nato stronger," Nato
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday.
"President Putin had a declared goal of the invasion of
Nato to get less Nato along its borders and no more membership in Europe, he's
getting exactly the opposite."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 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," he said.
Sweden's application has for now become stuck, with Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing Stockholm of embracing Kurdish
militants and allowing them to demonstrate on the streets. Hungary is also yet
to approve Sweden joining.
Mr Stoltenberg said Nato would ensure Sweden would become the
next member to join.
Helsinki's journey to accession has lasted less than a year, and
Tuesday's ceremony coincides with the 74th anniversary of Nato's founding in
1949.
It will formally join when Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto hands
over accession papers to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"Finland's a terrific ally, very capable, shares our values
and we expect a seamless transition into its proper seat at the table," US
ambassador to Nato Julianne Smith told the BBC.
She said she hoped Sweden would also join at the next Nato
summit in Lithuania in July.
The Kremlin said that Russia was being forced to take
counter-measures to ensure its own security, tactically and strategically, but
pointed out it had never had disagreements with Helsinki in the way that
Ukraine had become "anti-Russian".
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that
Russia's short-range Iskander-M ballistic missile system had been handed over
to Belarus and was capable of carrying nuclear as well as conventional weapons.
Some Belarusian fighter jets were also capable of carrying nuclear weapons, he
said.
Nato will now have seven members on the Baltic Sea, further
isolating Russia's coastal access to St Petersburg and its small exclave of
Kaliningrad.
Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that Russia would be watching closely
how Nato used Finnish territory "in terms of basing weapons systems and
infrastructure there which will be right up close to our borders, potentially
threatening us".
"Based on that, measures will be taken," the Kremlin
spokesman said.
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