Finland to Officially Join NATO on Tuesday — Media
On April 4, Finland's flag will fly at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and the country will join the North Atlantic Alliance.
As the Norwegian public television and radio company NRK reports, the flag of Finland will fly among the other NATO countries to mark Finland's membership at NATO foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday in Brussels. The media is sharing a photo of the flagpole on which the Finnish flag is expected to be raised on Tuesday.
Finland’s in pole position now at #NATO HQ.
— Teri Schultz (@terischultz) April 3, 2023
Expecting a flag to be there tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/CcEgIEaK1N
The historic moment will be celebrated with a ceremony headed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President of Finland Sauli Niinisto.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday evening that Finland's membership could be formally approved in Brussels without submitting documents to Washington.
Membership was considered effective only when a country's representative submitted accession documents to the US State Department in Washington.
April 4 is the anniversary of the NATO foundation. On this day in 1949, in Washington, representatives of 12 countries - the USA, the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Portugal - signed the North Atlantic Pact on a military-political alliance.
Previously, the Parliament of Türkiye unanimously approved Findland's NATO accession on the night of March 31. Jens Stoltenberg then announced that Finland would officially become a NATO member in the coming days.