Finland becomes 31st NATO member as Russia calls it 'dangerous historic mistake'

Finland is now the 31st member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. Finland's Foreign Minister signed the accession document and gave it to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following which the country's flag will soon be raised at the NATO headquarters.

With this, Russia's borders with NATO member countries have doubled in length.

Meanwhile, Russia said on Tuesday that Finland's accession to the NATO military alliance was a dangerous historic mistake. It warned that the move would weaken security in the wider region, increase the risk of conflict, and force Moscow to take counter-measures.

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Russia also branded Finland's NATO membership an "assault on our security".Kremlin added that it represented "the latest aggravation of the situation".

"The expansion of NATO is an assault on our security and Russia's national interests," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Russia has warned that it will take countermeasures.

"The Kremlin believes that this is the latest aggravation of the situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "And this forces us to take countermeasures... in tactical and strategic terms."

In Moscow, pro-Kremlin activists held an anti-NATO demonstration outside the USEmbassy. People held placards with slogans such as "Stop NATO" and "NATO is a sponsor of Nazism."

Finland has an eastern frontier with Russia spanning 1,340 kilometres. It formally applied for NATO membership along with Sweden last May following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Both Sweden and Finland followed a non-alignment policy ever since Helsinki repelled an effort by the Soviet Union to invade the country during World War II. But the two countries sought the protection of NATO after the Ukraine invasion.The body's Article Five states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, public opinion polls showed an 80 per cent surge in favour of Finland joining NATO.

Ahead of Finland joining NATO,Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters,"This will make Finland safer and NATO stronger."

"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."

Blinken also termed the event a historic day.

(With inputs from agencies)

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