Finland officially joins Nato, Russia warns of counter-measures

Finland formally joined the Nato military alliance on Tuesday in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia's attack on Ukraine, drawing a threat from Moscow of "countermeasures".

Finland's accession roughly doubles the length of the border that Nato shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in sight.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto completed the accession process by handing over an official document to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, welcoming Finland to its ranks, noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had cited opposing Nato expansion as one justification for his attack.

"He is getting exactly the opposite...Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance," Stoltenberg said in Brussels.

The Kremlin said Russia would be forced to take "counter-measures" to Finland's accession. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the move raised the prospect of the conflict in Ukraine escalating further.

Russia said on Monday it would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland joining Nato.

The Ukrainian government also hailed Finland's move. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram: "FI made the right choice. Nato is also a key goal for Ukraine."

The event marks the end of an era of military non-alignment for Finland that began after the country repelled an assult attempt by the Soviet Union during World War Two and opted to try to maintain friendly relations with neighbouring Russia.

But the attack on Ukraine in February 2022 prompted Finns to seek security under Nato's collective defence pact, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

Moscow, which has long criticised the move, reacted crossly.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Nato expansion was an "encroachment on our security and on Russia's national interests". Moscow would watch closely for any Nato military deployments in Finland, he said.

Blinken said: "I'm tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank Mr Putin for. Because he once again here precipitated something he claims to want to prevent."

Sweden and Finland applied together last year to join Nato, but the Swedish application has been held up by Nato members Turkey and Hungary.

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