In the Finnish capital, Biden went to the presidential palace in Helsinki to meet with Niinisto, who in turn described the country’s accession to NATO as a “new era of security” for Finland.
Biden expressed his “delight” at being in the Scandinavian country, and noted that “it was the fastest ratification in recent history,” before defending that Helsinki constitutes “an incredible asset to NATO,” which has become “stronger,” as he put it. Europa Press news agency.
Finland joined NATO on April 4, becoming the military organization’s 31st member country.
The country shares more than 1,300 km of border with Russia, which is the largest of all the member states of the European Union.
The start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 accelerated Finland’s membership in the Euro-Atlantic military alliance, with which it had already maintained extensive cooperation.
Biden arrived in Helsinki after participating in the NATO summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and on his agenda is strengthening cooperation with the Nordic countries in the fields of security, climate policy and technology.
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