Page 16 - Nato

Finland becomes member of Nato, Russia threatens 'counter-measures'

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

Finland's Nato moment

A snub for Putin, a risk for Europe

Finland's parliamentary website targeted ahead of NATO entry: Report

Finland's parliamentary website was paralysed by a denial-of-service attack on Tuesday, just before the country made its historic entry into NATO, a move that more than doubles NATO's border with Russia and has angered Russian President Vladimir Putin. The attacks in which participants flood targets with junk data made the parliament's site hard to use, with many pages not loading and some functions not available for a time. A pro-Russian hacker group known as NoName057 (16) claimed responsibility, saying the attack was retaliation for Finland joining NATO. The hacker group, which has reportedly acted on Moscow's orders, has taken part in a slew of cyberattacks on the US and its allies in the past. The claim could not be immediately verified. For the most part, Finns went about their business as usual on the bright cold day, belying the historic nature of Finland becoming the 31st member of NATO. Its membership was formalised with a series of steps in Brussels. It's a moment that

In setback to Putin, Finland set to officially become NATO member

Finland is set to officially become a member of NATO later on Tuesday and take its place among the ranks of the world's biggest security alliance. Neighboring Russia has already warned that it will bolster its defences near their joint border if NATO deploys any additional troops or equipment to what will be its 31st member country. Finland's blue and white flag is scheduled to be raised among those of its partners outside NATO's Brussels headquarters. Finland's president, foreign and defense ministers will take part. The ceremony falls on NATO's very own birthday, the 74th anniversary of the signing of its founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. It also coincides with a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers. Turkey became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland's membership protocol on Thursday. It will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony. Finland will then give Blinken its own fi

Finland's membership will make alliance stronger: NATO General Secretary

In a video shared by the official Twitter account of NATO Spokesperson, Oana Lungescu, the NATO General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, is heard welcoming and congratulating Finland

As Finland plans to join Nato, a look at how countries join the alliance

Nato's membership has increased from 12 to 30 countries through eight rounds of enlargement. The Republic of North Macedonia became the latest country to join Nato on March 27, 2020

NATO, US forces join Romania-led Black Sea multinational military drills

Romania's navy led multinational military drills in the Black Sea region Thursday that brought together U.S. and NATO troops as the 30-nation alliance looks to boost security on its southeastern flank amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. The sea and air exercises are part of a series of drills known as Sea Shield 2023 that involve some 3,400 military personnel from 12 NATO member countries and some partner nations. Romania's navy said Thursday's drills in the Mahmudia region of the Danube Delta, which flows into the Black Sea, would demonstrate how the combined forces would neutralise an enemy air landing in an area adjacent to such a waterway. More than 30 naval ships, 14 aircraft and 15 fast intervention boats and other patrol vessels are taking part in Sea Shield 2023, which started March 20 and runs until April 2. Anti-explosive divers have participated in drills, as have chemical, biological, and nuclear defence specialists. In response to Russia's February 2022 invasion of

Hungarian parliament approves Finland's bid to join Western alliance Nato

Hungary's parliament on Monday approved Finland's bid to join NATO, ending months of delays and bringing the Nordic country one step closer to becoming a full member of the Western military alliance. Hungarian lawmakers voted 182 for and only six against with no abstentions. The vote came after Hungary's government frustrated allies in NATO and the European Union by repeatedly postponing the measure for months after nearly all other members of the alliance had ratified Finland's bid. With Hungary's approval, Turkey is now the only one of NATO's 30 members not to have ratified Finland's NATO accession. Admitting a new country requires unanimity among all member nations.

NATO countries are party to Ukraine conflict: Russian security chief

Nikolay Patrushev emphasises that the NATO countries are parties to the conflict with Ukraine

In Putin and Russia, Xi sees a counterweight to American influence: WH

In President Vladimir Putin and Russia, the Chinese President Xi Jinping sees a counterweight to the American and NATO influence in the world, the White House said Tuesday. The statement by John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, came as Putin hosted the Chinese leader. "I think you've seen over the years that these two countries are growing close together. I wouldn't go so far to call it an alliance. (it's) a marriage of convenience, because that's what I think it is. In President Putin and Russia, President Xi sees a counterweight to American influence and NATO influence, certainly on the continent and elsewhere around the world," Kirby told reporters at a daily news conference here. "In President Xi, President Putin sees a potential backer here. This is a man who doesn't have a whole lot of friends on the international stage. They can count them on one hand mostly. He really needs and wants President Xi's support for wha

US urges Turkey to 'quickly' ratify Sweden's NATO membership after Finland

After Turkey approved the process of ratifying Finland's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the US welcomed the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Poland to be 1st NATO member to give Ukraine fighter jets to defend itself

Poland said Thursday it plans to give Ukraine about a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfil Kyiv's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes to defend itself against the Russian invasion. Warsaw will hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes "within the next few days," President Andrzej Duda said, and the rest needed servicing but would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe the total number can mean between 11 and 19. "They are in the last years of their functioning, but they are in good working condition," Duda said. He did not say whether other countries would follow suit, although Slovakia has said it would send its own disused MiGs to Ukraine. Poland also was the first NATO nation to provide Ukraine with German-made Leopard 2 tanks. On Wednesday, Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said some other countries also had pledged MiGs to Kyiv, but did not identify them. Both Poland and Slovakia had indicated they were

Prez Erdogan hints Turkey may ratify Finland's NATO membership

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Wednesday that his country could soon ratify Finland's application to join NATO, allowing for the possibility of the country joining the military alliance separately from Sweden. Alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of nonalignment and applied to join the alliance. All 30 NATO members have approved their applications, and 28 have ratified their accession. Only Turkey and Hungary have failed to do so. Turkey's government accuses Sweden of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations and existential threats, including Kurdish groups. Ankara has said, however, that it has fewer problems with Finland's membership. Asked by reporters whether Turkey could ratify Finland's membership following a visit by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto later in the week, Erdogan responded: God willing, if it is for the best. Whatever the process is, the process will function. We will

Sweden, Finland discuss NATO accession with Turkey, says military bloc

Representatives of Sweden, Finland and Turkey held talks in Brussels to discuss progress on fulfilling Turkey's conditions for agreeing to the Nordic countries' accession to NATO

Russia probably does not want military conflict with US, NATO: US intel

The US intelligence community believes that Russia probably does not want a direct military conflict with US and NATO forces, but there is potential for that to occur

Hungarian delegation supports Sweden's Nato membership application

A parliamentary delegation from Hungary said Tuesday that it supports Sweden's NATO membership bid after meeting the speaker of the Swedish parliament to iron out what Hungary's governing party has called political disputes. Some Hungarian lawmakers have raised doubts about whether to support the NATO membership applications by Sweden and Finland, citing what they call blatant lies from Stockholm and Helsinki on the state of Hungary's democracy. But the Hungarian delegation indicated Tuesday that the parliament in Budapest would ultimately ratify Sweden's NATO bid. We support Sweden's NATO membership, Hungary's deputy parliamentary speaker, Csaba Hende, told Swedish news agency TT. We made it clear that the Hungarian government, the Hungarian president, the prime minister and most of the Hungarian parliamentarians clearly support Swedish NATO membership, Hende said, according to TT. He added that it was necessary to improve bilateral relations between Budapest and Stockholm. Hunga

More India is strong, more calm things will be: Former US Defence Secy

He said that all NATO could do was remind Putin that it is a nuclear-armed alliance. Its message was that Russia should not even think about it

Hungary further delays vote on ratifying Sweden, Finland joining NATO

Hungary has further delayed a vote on ratifying Sweden and Finland's NATO accession bids, according to an updated schedule published on Thursday on the National Assembly's website, the latest in a series of postponements that have frustrated Western allies. The delay, which pushes the vote back by two weeks to the parliamentary session beginning March 20, comes as Hungary remains the only NATO member country besides Turkey that hasn't yet approved the two Nordic countries' bids to join the Western military alliance. Hungary's populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has said that he is personally in favour of the two countries joining NATO, but alleged that the governments in Stockholm and Helsinki have spread blatant lies about Hungary which have raised questions among lawmakers in his party on whether to approve the bids. In a radio interview on February 24, Orban confirmed that Hungary would send a parliamentary delegation to Sweden and Finland to seek clarification on such issues

Finnish Parliament approves legislation allowing accession to Nato

The Finnish parliament has approved legislation allowing the country to join the NATO. As many as 184 members of parliament voted in favour, with seven against and one abstention.

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