Finland formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday, becoming its 31st member on the same day as NATO’s 74th anniversary.

Iran PressIran news: The country applied to join NATO last May in a foreign policy U-turn prompted by war in Ukraine. 

Finland and Sweden initially planned to join the alliance together. But Turkey and Hungary dragged out the ratification process for the two countries, ultimately signing off on Finland’s bid last week but leaving Sweden hanging in the wind. 

On Tuesday this week, Turkey and Finland completed the final steps in the process, handing over accession documents to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Standing alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Blinken declared: “With receipt of this instrument of accession, we can now declare that Finland is the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty.”

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Finland to formally join NATO on Tuesday