Partnership for Peace program no relation foreign relations of Finland
The Republic of Finland became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 4 April 2023. Finland has had formal relations with NATO since 1994, when it joined the Partnership for Peace program, and has been a member of the European Union (EU) – which largely overlaps with NATO in membership – since 1995.
Finland has historically maintained a position of neutrality in the face of its often complicated relations with Russia. The possibility of membership became a topic of debate in the country after the end of the Cold War, and following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country officially applied to join NATO on 18 May 2022.
On 5 July 2022, NATO signed the accession protocol for Finland to join the alliance. By the end of September, 28 of 30 NATO member states had ratified the accession protocol, the remaining two being Hungary and Turkey, who would both ratify it by early April 2023. Finland formally became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023 during a scheduled summit, finalizing the fastest accession process in the treaty's history. Finland has a 1,340 km (832 mi) border with Russia, which more than doubles NATO's border with Russia.
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