What has pushed Finland to give up its neutrality, what were its relations with Russia before this, and what is the move likely to mean for NATO, Russia, and Finland?
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Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland applied to join NATO, setting aside years of military non-alignment to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella.
Finland officially becomes the 31st member of NATO, marking an end to its decades-long military neutrality in the face of fears about the threat posed by Russia following its invasion of Ukraine a year earlier.
Finland has officially become a member of NATO, dramatically widening Russia's frontier with the trans-Atlantic defense alliance. The Kremlin has described the accession as an "assault on our security."