JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden celebrated Finland's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday, praising it as the fastest ratification process in the alliance's modern history.
Not only that, Finland's joining NATO is seen by the West as a victory over Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.
"When Putin launched a brutal war of aggression against the Ukrainian people, he thought he could divide Europe and NATO. He was wrong," Biden said in a statement.
"Today, we are more united than ever. And together, strengthened by our newest ally, Finland, we will continue to maintain trans-Atlantic security, maintain every inch of NATO territory and face every challenge we face," said President Biden.
Finland officially joined the world's largest security alliance on Tuesday, after completing a series of formalitys at the alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto handed over his country's NATO access documents to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, guardian of the alliance's founding agreement.
Separately, Moscow described Finland's joining NATO as an "attack" on Russia's security.
Tervetuloa Suomi — Welcome Finland!🇫🇮🤝 #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/aqY1X0rW33
— NATO (@NATO) April 4, 2023
"Kremlin believes that this is the latest annoyance from this situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"NATO's expansion is an attack on our security and Russia's national interests," Peskov said.
Earlier, Russia would strengthen its military capacity in the western and northwestern regions, in response to the official joining of Finland NATO, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said according to a report by the RIA government news agency.
Finland has a 1,300 km (810 miles)-long border with Russia, which will double the border of the trans-Atlantic alliance facing Moscow.
"We will strengthen our military potential in the west and northwest. If forces and other NATO member resources are deployed in Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russian military security," Grushko told RIA.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last year Russia took "sufficient precautions" and would form 12 units and divisions in the western military district.
Yesterday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed it would not deploy any troops in Finland, without the Helsinki Government's approval.
"This is Finland's decision. There will be no NATO troops in Finland without Finnish approval," Stoltenberg said, citing TASS.
Nevertheless, Stoltenberg underlined, Finland will bring "forward defense industry" and "high-end capabilities" into the alliance.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
