Finnish and Nato flags flutter at the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry, ahead of Finland's accession to NATO, in Helsinki, Finland, April 4, 2023. Lehtikuva/Antti Hamalainen via REUTERS
VIROLAHTI, Finland (Reuters) - Finns living close to the country's long border to Russia as well as in the capital Helsinki welcomed Finland's new NATO membership on Tuesday, and the sense of having a larger alliance behind them after decades of military non-alignment.
Finland became NATO's 31st member in a flag-raising ceremony at the alliance's Brussels headquarters attended by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto just over a year after Russian troops rolled into Ukraine.
