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NATO's blue and white flags fluttered against the backdrop of Helsinki's deep blue sky as Finland was on the cusp of its historic entry into NATO on Tuesday, a step that doubles the Western alliance's border with Russia and ends decades of non-alignment for the Nordic nation. The country's foreign minister travelled the night before to Brussels carrying papers in a suitcase that when handed over to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will seal Finland's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. It's a moment that most Finns had never even sought as they balanced friendly ties with both the West and Russia. But all that changed with Russia's full-scale and brutal invasion of its neighbour Ukraine last year, creating a sudden and strong sense of insecurity that pushed the nation toward membership to the security alliance. Newspapers showed Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto with a smile on his face as he travelled to Brussels late Monday for the raising of Finland's flag at NAT