Finland is applying for Nato membership in a historic move that would more than double the defence alliance’s borders with Russia and change the geopolitics of Europe.
“This is a historic day. A new era starts,” Finnish president Sauli Niinistö said at a press conference, as Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, another non-Nato member that shares a border with Russia, upturned decades of security thinking in Helsinki.
Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin said: “We cannot trust any more that there will be a peaceful future next to Russia on our own. That’s why we’re making the decision to join Nato: it’s an act of peace, to make sure there will never again be a war in Finland in the future.”