Finland’s membership in NATO

Finland applied for membership in NATO on 17 May 2022. The NATO member countries signed the Accession Protocol concerning Finland’s NATO membership at NATO Headquarters on 5 July, making Finland an invitee of the Alliance. Once all NATO members had ratified Finland’s Accession Protocol and Finland had accepted its accession to NATO nationally, Finland became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023.

NATO membership will strengthen Finland’s security in the changed security environment and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe. Finland’s strong defence capabilities and resilience will also strengthen NATO and the collective defence of the Alliance.

Membership in NATO gives Finland access to the planning and implementation of collective defence in accordance with Article 5 and it joins NATO’s operational plans and the required leadership structures and systems. Finland participates more extensively in NATO’s exercises, including Article 5 exercises. Cooperation in sharing and receiving air and maritime situational awareness deepens while Finland is also part of the integrated air and missile defence system.

Finland participates in NATO's Defence Planning Process (NDPP) which is an ongoing core activity in NATO. The Defence Planning Process is based on the obligation under Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty to jointly and separately develop capabilities to defend against an armed attack. In NATO, the Defence Planning Process refers to developing the joint capabilities of the member countries and NATO. The NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) includes the primary means to facilitate the identification, development and delivery of NATO’s present and future capability requirements. The aim of NATO Defence Planning is to provide a framework within which national and Alliance Defence Planning activities can be harmonized to meet the agreed targets in the most effective way. In terms of capability development, the NATO Defence Planning focuses or harmonizes or aligns individual Allies Defence Planning activities, provides greater coherence and harmonisation, and focuses on the NATO medium term (7–19 years). It should not be confused with the planning of actual operations or defence of a region or with decision-making on the use of military assets.

Finland sends personnel to work in NATO’s command and force structures, agencies, the International Secretariat at NATO Headquarters and the International Military Secretariat. More resources are allocated to NATO activities also at the national level. As a member country, Finland also contributes to NATO’s common funding.

At The Hague Summit, NATO member states committed to raising their defence expenditure to five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035. They will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP based on the agreed definition of NATO defence expenditure to an external website to resource core defence requirements. The percentage reflects the estimated cost of meeting the NATO Capability Targets. The Allies will account for up to 1.5% of GDP to defence- and security-related investments that support the implementation of NATO’s collective defence plans and promote national resilience.