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Helsinki, Finland CNN —More than 500 days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the war loomed over President Joe Biden’s weeklong, three-stop trip to Europe. Drama over Ukraine’s membershipUkraine was the top agenda item for NATO leaders in Vilnius, and the discussion of a pathway for the war-torn country to join the alliance prompted division among leaders. After meeting with Zelensky for more than an hour, Biden told reporters that he was able to reassure his Ukrainian counterpart. The former president raised the prospect of withdrawing from the alliance multiple times in 2018, The New York Times reported. I don’t think NATO’s ever been stronger,” Biden said during his meeting with Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö

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☆ Biden jokes that if he were Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin he would be 'careful what I ate'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Biden made light of the situation that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin now finds himself in. "If I were he, I would be careful what I ate," Biden saidGet the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. I don't know, I don't think any of us know for certain what the future of Prigozhin is in Russia," he said. "So, I don't know how to answer that question beyond that." "There is no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine," Biden said during the news conference in Helsinki alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

Persons: Biden, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Joe Biden, We're, Prigozhin's, Putin, it's, Prigozhin's Wagner, Sergei Shoigu's, Sauli Niinistö Organizations: Service, Kremlin, Prigozhin, Russia's Defence, NATO, Ukraine, Finnish Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russia, Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania, Helsinki

☆ Biden welcomes Finland to NATO ahead of summit with Nordic leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Biden travelled to Finland, which shares a border with Russia, straight from this week's NATO talks in Vilnius, Lithuania to participate in a U.S.-Nordic summit with the leaders of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway. He will also hold a joint news conference with Finland's President Sauli Niinisto before heading back to Washington. Ahead of a bilateral meeting with Niinisto, Biden hailed Finland's as an "incredible asset" to the NATO military alliance. Niinisto said Finland's NATO membership heralded "a new era in our security", and applauded Biden for "creating unity" at the Vilnius summit which focused on uniting behind Ukraine. At this week's NATO summit, Biden described Finland and Sweden's push to join NATO as evidence Putin's "craven lust for land and power" had backfired, only serving to strengthen the military alliance.

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☆ One of Putin's closest friends built him a $3.2 million fishing villa in Finland, then had to scrap it when the Russian leader showed up and wasn't keen on fishing in the country: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A $3.2 million fishing villa built for Vladimir Putin sits abandoned in Finland, The Insider reported. A friend built it for Putin, but stopped when he realized the leader wasn't keen on Finnish fishing, per The Insider. The villa was funded by Viktor Khmarin, an old classmate of Putin's at Leningrad State University who now lobbies for the Russian leader, per The Insider. Khmarin had built the Finnish cottage in a bid to get Putin to spend more time with him, according to the outlet. The reported location of Khmarin's fishing villa puts it close to the Villa Segren, another property in the Gulf of Finland that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny claimed is used by Putin as a holiday retreat.

The Ukrainian president cited prior examples of battlefield successes that were followed by Ukraine being granted new types of military aid. I would rather it was the other way round, as it would be easier for us, but it is like it is, and we are grateful for everything," the Ukrainian president said. "But we like your aircraft, just so you know Mr President," Zelenskiy quipped. "We need security guarantees today, while we are not in NATO," Zelenskiy said. A spokesperson for Zelenskiy in a statement said the Ukrainian government expected the summit to result in a joint statement.

☆ South Africa to try to withdraw from ICC again - Ramaphosa
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Carien Du Plessis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to a parliamentary debate on his state of the nation address in Cape Town, South Africa, February 16, 2023. Only two days earlier, South Africa's parliament announced that it would abandon a seven-year-long legislative process to pull South Africa out of the ICC's Rome Statute. The process was abandoned because the governing party in December decided that South Africa should rather remain in the ICC and try to effect changes from within, a decision that has now been reversed. The international arrest warrant against Putin was issued after he had already received his invite from South Africa to the BRICS summit in August, and it would oblige South Africa to hand him over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague if he set foot in the country. "He has been invited by President Ramaphosa and Russia has indicated attendance," South Africa's official in charge of the relationship with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries, Anil Sooklal, told Reuters.

☆ NATO's newest member is now becoming the first country to buy an advanced Israeli air-defense system
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A day after it joined NATO, Finland said it'll buy an advanced Israeli air-defense system. The Finnish Defense Ministry said it approved the purchase of the David's Sling system in a statement on Wednesday. Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems will deliver the system, which was procured in a deal valued at nearly $345 million, according to the statement. It will be the first export of the David's Sling system, according to a translation of the ministry's statement. David's Sling is an advanced air-defense system built by Rafael and the US firm Raytheon and has been operational since 2017.

☆ An emboldened NATO provides a bittersweet moment for war-torn Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Congratulating Finland, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Finland now has a "reliable guarantee of safety – a collective guarantee." At the heart of NATO is the tenet that an attack on one member is an attack on all members. Finland and Sweden both applied to join NATO last May, prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and their membership bids were fast-tracked. To do so would have triggered NATO members' commitment to protect one another and Moscow would have faced the collective might of the alliance's armed forces. That's not to say that NATO didn't see the war coming in Ukraine in the run up to the invasion.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Finland set to formally join NATO; Russian blogger bombing suspect has been 'framed,' husband says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Finnish reservists of the Guard Jaeger Regiment take part in a military exercise at the Santahamina military base in Helsinki, Finland on March 7, 2023. -Finland is set to formally become a member of the NATO defense alliance on Tuesday, ending years of "military non-alignment." On Tuesday, the country's President Sauli Niinisto will travel to the NATO headquarters in Brussels for the accession. Turkey, the last holdout on Helsinki's accession to the military coalition, gave its approval on Finland's membership bid on March 30. Sweden's membership bid, made at the same time as Finland's, is still awaiting approval.

☆ Finland officially becomes a member of NATO, doubling the military alliance's border with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Finland's Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto is concerned that his country's application to join NATO will be delayed. Finland on Tuesday became an official member of the military alliance NATO, prompted by Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine last year. Nor does it change the foundations or objectives of Finland's foreign and security policy," Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said in a written statement Tuesday. Finland shares an 832-mile border with Russia, the longest of any European Union member. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia would closely follow any NATO deployments in Finland and that his country would take "counter-measures" to this accession, according to Reuters.

HELSINKI/BRUSSELS, April 4 (Reuters) - Finland will become a member of NATO on Tuesday, completing a historic security policy shift triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while neighbour Sweden is kept in the waiting room. "It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday. Sweden underwent a similar transformation in defence thinking and Stockholm and Helsinki applied together last year to join NATO. Moscow said on Monday it would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland joining NATO. Stoltenberg said he was "absolutely confident" that Sweden will become a NATO member.

"I feel it's a good thing that Finland is joining NATO. In Virolahti, near the Russian border due east of Helsinki, retired Finnish combat engineer Ilkka Lansivaara had hung his own NATO flag from the side of his house. Memories of Finland's close relations with Moscow to preserve independence - a tactic known as "Finlandisation" - run deep for many Finns. Finland brings a sizable, well-trained military into NATO and Russia has said it will have to take "counter-measures" to ensure Russian security in response. Meanwhile, Finland's close partner Sweden continues to wait for ratification of its NATO membership bid in the face of opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

☆ US embassy welcomes Finland to NATO with meme on Finnish snipers, a lethal force legendary for punishing invading Soviets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

To mark the occasion, a US embassy posted a meme to Twitter about Finnish snipers. The meme reads "select all images with Finnish snipers" and includes 12 small picture boxes which together make up an image of a snow-covered forest. What followed was a 105-day-long conflict known as the Winter War — a cold affair that saw Soviet forces suffer substantial losses. Given their limited number of troops and equipment, Finnish forces often couldn't go head to head against Soviet forces in pitched battles, so they turned to their snipers. Ski-mounted Finnish troops inflicted heavy losses on the Soviets.

"Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of NATO making Finland safer and our alliance stronger," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, hailing the move as "historic". Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year pushed Finland and its neighbour Sweden to apply for NATO membership, abandoning decades of military non-alignment. [1/2] NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg attends a news conference before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium April 3, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron 1 2"President Putin went to war against Ukraine with the clear aim to get less NATO," Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg pledged to work hard to get Sweden into NATO as soon as possible.

With no party seen as holding a decisive lead the election is likely to be followed lengthy coalition talks, although whichever party wins on Sunday will have the first attempt at forming a government. Opinion polls show her Social Democrats, the biggest party in the outgoing coalition government, in a dead heat with the rightist National Coalition Party and the nationalist Finns Party, with all three seen winning some 18.7-19.8% of ballots. It has promised to curb spending and stop the rise of public debt, which has reached just over 70% of GDP since Marin took office in 2019. "It's been going on for 30 years - more debt, debt, debt - and good services, fine, but on borrowed money." The Finns Party, too, calls for austerity but its main goal is to reduce what its leader Riikka Purra has called "harmful" immigration from developing countries outside the European Union.

☆ Turkey formally approves Finland's NATO membership, in setback for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Adem Altan | Afp | Getty ImagesTurkey's parliament voted unanimously to formally approve Finland's membership to NATO on Thursday, marking a historic step for the traditionally nonaligned Nordic country that shares an 830-mile border with Russia. Turkey and Hungary remained the final holdouts standing in the way of the Nordic states' accession to the 74-year old alliance. Turkey joined NATO in 1952, and has the second-largest military in the alliance after the United States. Finland lifted its nearly three-year-long arms embargo on Turkey in January as part of its effort to improve the two countries' relations. Nonetheless, he expressed confidence that Turkey would approve his country's NATO bid.

☆ Turkish parliament ratifies Finland's NATO accession as Sweden kept waiting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week. Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "NATO membership will strengthen Finland's security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe," the Finnish government said in a statement following the Turkish parliament vote. Twe Turkish parliament's ratification of Finland's NATO membership is set to be approved by President Tayyip Erdogan and then published in the country's Official Gazette. When Finland's instrument of accession document reaches the U.S. State Department, the Nordic country will formally become a NATO member.

☆ Turkey’s President Approves Finland’s NATO Membership Bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Jared Malsin | Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara on Friday. ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that his country would allow Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, paving the way for an important enlargement of the alliance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Erdogan announced his decision standing alongside Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö in Turkey’s capital Ankara, following nearly a year of diplomatic wrangling after the Turkish leader threatened to block both Finland and Sweden from entering the alliance over concerns about their ties to Kurdish militant groups.

☆ President Erdogan says Turkey will start ratifying Finland's NATO application
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday approved Finland's accession to NATO after months of talks, but added that discussions with Sweden will continue. "We have decided to initiate the ratification of Finland's accession process to NATO in our parliament," Erdogan said in Ankara, according to a Reuters translation, as he met his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto. Erdogan added that he hoped the Turkish parliament would endorse Finland's bid before the country's May 14 elections. In May, Finland and Sweden sent applications to join the military alliance. But the process to join NATO has not been as smooth as some had expected, particularly with Ankara demanding more security reassurances from Sweden.

[1/3] Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey March 17, 2023. The parliaments of all 30 NATO members must ratify newcomers. "We have decided to initiate the ratification of Finland's accession process to NATO in our parliament," Erdogan told reporters after meeting with Niinisto, adding he hoped parliament would endorse the bid before May 14 elections. Washington and other NATO members had hoped the two Nordic countries would join the alliance at a NATO summit set for July 11 in Vilnius. Turkey's parliament is expected to ratify Finland before it closes in mid-April ahead of the parliamentary and presidential votes scheduled for May 14.

[1/3] Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey March 17, 2023. The parliaments of all 30 NATO members must ratify newcomers. "We have decided to initiate the ratification of Finland's accession process to NATO in our parliament," Erdogan told reporters after meeting with Niinisto, adding he hoped parliament would endorse the bid before May 14 elections. Amid simmering tensions with Sweden, Erdogan signalled in January that Turkey could endorse Helsinki ahead of Stockholm. Washington and other NATO members had hoped the two Nordic countries would join the alliance at a NATO summit set for July 11 in Vilnius.

☆ Finland Expects Turkey to Approve Its NATO Membership Bid This Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jared Malsin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said he would continue to support Sweden’s membership in NATO. ANKARA, Turkey—Finland’s president said Wednesday that he expects Turkey to approve the Nordic country’s entrance to NATO this week, a step toward an important expansion of the alliance in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said he anticipates a formal announcement of the decision from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Turkey starting Thursday.

☆ Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Orhan Coskun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Amid growing tensions with Sweden, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signalled for the first time in January that Ankara could give a green light to Helsinki ahead of Stockholm. "It is highly likely that the necessary step for Finland's NATO membership will be completed before (parliament) closes and the election is held," the official said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan indicated that he would send ratification of Finland's NATO membership to parliament soon, saying that he would "keep his promise". After that, we will fulfil our promise," Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, when asked whether he would send ratification of Finland's NATO bid to Turkish parliament next week. "Positive messages will be given to Finland's president during his visit," the second official said.

☆ Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Orhan Coskun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A senior Turkish official told Reuters that Finland's bid would be approved independently from that of Sweden. Niinisto, who will visit Turkey on March 16-17, said he believed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will give his blessing to Finland's NATO bid when the two meet. Erdogan indicated that he would send ratification of Finland's NATO membership to parliament soon, saying that he would "keep his promise". After that, we will fulfil our promise," Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, when asked whether he would send ratification of Finland's NATO bid to Turkish parliament next week. "Positive messages will be given to Finland's president during his visit," the second official said.

☆ Finland to allow gender reassignment without sterilisation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COPENHAGEN, March 3 (Reuters) - Finland will allow transgender people to change their legal gender at their own request and without undergoing sterilisation, new legislation signed by the Finnish President confirmed on Friday. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2017 that requiring sterilisation in order for individuals to change the sex on their birth certificate is a violation of human rights. Medical examinations and sterilization will no longer be required to legally change one's gender, it added. On Friday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto ratified the new legislation which is will enter into force on April 3. The Czech Republic, Latvia, and Romania currently require individuals to undergo sterilization before legally changing their gender, according to Transgender Europe (TGEU).

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