Congratulations from Canada on Finland’s membership in NATO

Recalling that Canada was the first country to ratify Finland’s Protocol of Accession, Trudeau said they look forward to working more closely with Finland and all its allies.

Trudeau said NATO is “the cornerstone of transatlantic peace” in the face of violence, authoritarianism and threats to democracy, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Stating that he welcomes Finland’s participation in the alliance, Trudeau added that Finland’s membership strengthens NATO and they support Sweden’s membership.

BECOME A MEMBER IN LESS THAN A YEAR

Finland applied for NATO membership with Sweden on May 18, 2022. At the Madrid Summit held on June 28-30, 2022, a Triple Memorandum was signed between Turkey, Finland, and Sweden. The two countries were invited to join NATO at the summit.

After the summit, most NATO countries began the approval process for the two countries’ membership. 20 NATO countries completed the ratification process in their parliaments in July, 4 in August and 4 in September.

Finally, on March 27, the Hungarian Parliament approved the accession of Finland. On March 30, the approval was also obtained in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Following the completion of the official procedure, Finland officially became a member of the alliance on April 4, 2023, the 74th anniversary of the founding of NATO.

Thus, the process of Finland’s accession to NATO was completed in less than a year. (AA)