Putin’s NATO Problem Just Got Twice as Big
Finland finally joins the alliance
The Turkish parliament has unanimously voted to ratify Finland’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Finns moved towards NATO membership — a stance they themselves long opposed — after Putin’s aggressive attack on Ukraine in February 2022. Türkiye, however, blocked a Finnish membership of the alliance until recently but now has finally acceded to it.
As a result of the vote, Vladimir Putin’s border with the Western coalition he so hates will more than double in length, from roughly 1200 kilometers (~750 miles) to over 2500 kilometers (~1500 miles).
Why was Finland never in NATO?
Finnish foreign policy until 2022 was based on a troubled history. The country was attacked twice by Russia in the last 220 years and spent over a century under Russian rule. You’d expect the Russians to be Finland’s mortal enemy.
But for most of the post-World War II era, the Finns actually went to great lengths to avoid antagonizing Russia. Precisely because of the traumatizing history with its eastern neighbor, Finland wanted to prevent another Russian invasion at all costs.
This was known as the Paasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine but its outcome is better known: the…
