‘Finland to join NATO today’

Brussels: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday Finland will become the 31st member of the world’s biggest military alliance on Tuesday, and that he hopes its neighbour Sweden can join in coming months.

“This is a historic week,” Stoltenberg told reporters on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

“From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance.” The former Norwegian prime minister said that on Tuesday afternoon, “we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.” Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to US Secretary of State on Tuesday.