Finland joins NATO: What country is and isn’t a member state including Ireland, Sweden & Turkey

Finland has officially become a member state of NATO, bringing an end to decades of military neutrality. With other Nordic bloc countries looking for admission, we’ve outlined the current state of play with NATO including who’s in, who’s out and who’s seeking approval.

Tuesday brought good news for Finland, who have been engaged in a drawn out application process since May 2022. However, nearby Sweden has been left out in the cold and is yet to be granted approval by a few key member states.

While Finland has typically maintained positive relationships with its surrounding NATO countries, their admission will have a huge impact on their defence strategy moving forward. Finland will now be covered by NATO’s collective defence policy, which means a duty of response from other member states if the country is attacked.

NATO’s approval is a strategic blow to Russia, which shares a 1,340km (832-mile) border with Finland. This means the alliance will now have doubled the size of its border with Putin’s nation.

Who are NATO’s founding members? 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was founded after World War Two as part ofefforts to secure peace in Europe, help further cooperation between Europe and North America, and to combat the unpredictable threat of the Soviet Union at the time.

In 1949, 12 member states signed the treaty. The founding members were…

• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark 
• France 
• Iceland 
• Italy 
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• United Kingdom 
• United States of America 

Who are the members of NATO now?

Currently, NATO has 31 member countries, here’s a list of the countries part of the NATO states map and when they joined the alliance…

• Albania - 2009
• Belgium - 1949
• Bulgaria - 2004
• Canada - 1949
• Croatia - 2009
• Czech Republic - 1999
• Denmark - 1949
• Estonia - 2004
• Finland - 2023
• France - 1949
• Germany -1955
• Greece - 1952
• Iceland - 1949
• Italy - 1949
• Latvia - 2004
• Lithuania - 2004
• Luxembourg - 1949
• Montenegro - 2017
• Netherlands - 1949
• North Macedonia - 2020
• Norway - 1949
• Poland - 1999
• Portugal - 1949
• Romania - 2004
• Slovakia - 2004
• Slovenia - 2004
• Spain - 1982
• Turkey - 1952
• United Kingdom - 1949
• United States  - 1949

European countries not in NATO

• Andorra
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Cyprus
• Georgia
• Ireland
• Kosovo
• Liechtenstein
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Russia
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• Vatican City

Why is Ireland not in NATO?

Ireland has officially been militarily non-aligned and neutral since gaining independence in 1922. However, the country did join NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme and