Finland officially NATO member, says Polish PM

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on April 4 that Finland has officially become a member of NATO.

He congratulated the country on becoming the 31st member of the alliance, while a statement on behalf of NATO is planned at a later date, reports Kommersant.

"Finland is now in NATO! Congratulations! From today, the alliance is made up of 31 countries. Strong partners provide a guarantee of security for Poland, our region and the whole world," he wrote on Twitter.

Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Finnish parliament approved the country's entry into the alliance on March 1, 2023, the Swedish parliament adopted a similar decision on March 22.

Finland's entry was approved by all countries, and Sweden is still waiting for approval from Türkiye and Hungary.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO would not deploy troops to Finland without its consent.

Nevertheless, the Russian Foreign Ministry has already threatened to take retaliatory measures of a military-technical and "other nature" to "eliminate threats after Finland joins NATO.