Finland to apply for NATO

On Thursday, the President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, and Prime Minister Sanna Marin,

in a joint statement stated that Finland will submit an application to join the NATO military alliance. Both of them commented, "Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay.” This is a significant announcement by the Finnish PM and President amid the ongoing Russia Ukraine conflict. The country shares a 1,300 km border with Russia and has a difficult past with Russia. It has earlier remained outside the alliance.

Previously, on Wednesday, British prime minister Boris Johnson

promised to defend Sweden and Finland against potential Russian threats as he traveled to both countries to ink mutual security agreements.

In the extensive Nordic region, Norway, Denmark, and the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are already members of the Nato, and the addition of Finland and Sweden would probably infuriate Moscow.

Russia has previously said that any enlargement of the organization is a direct threat to its own security. Finland has always assumed a pragmatic, hands-on approach to national defense. In the late Cold War, Finland spent approximately 1.6 percent of its GDP on defense