Finland’s flag will be raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels this afternoon as the country has become the 31st member of the Alliance.

After decades-long neutrality, and despite Russia’s indirect threats and Turkey’s bargaining, Finland joins NATO against the background of the war in Ukraine.

For months, Ankara has been stepping on the “rush” of the Scandinavians (Sweden is also a candidate for membership), raising security issues, since it considers that they host Kurdish fighters and their supporters, whom it calls “terrorists”, especially those of the PKK and their allies in northern Syria and Iraq.

After the short admission ceremony of Finland, the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Committee (NUC) at the level of Foreign Ministers will take place in Brussels, with the participation of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba.

Discussions are expected to focus, among others, on issues related to NATO’s continuous support for Ukraine in countering the Russian invasion.

The meeting of Foreign Ministers takes place three months before the Summit, which will be hosted in Vilnius in July.

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