Finland said on Thursday it would apply for NATO membership without delay.” Another Nordic country, Sweden, is also expected to seek membership. The decision angered Russia, whose military is struggling with its war in Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in part to prevent an expansion of the NATO military alliance. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement, “Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay. We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.” The announcement signaled that the Nordic country has dropped its position of neutrality that it held throughout the Cold War. The two leaders added, “NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance.” Finland’s inclusion in NATO would bring the military alliance’s expansion right up to the Russian border. Finland has the longest border with Russia out of all the European Union’s 27 members. Russian officials had warned of “military and political repercussions” if Sweden and Finland decided to join NATO. Russian officials had also spoken about the possibility of stationing nuclear-armed missiles on the Baltic Sea. Finland’s announcement came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both Finland and Sweden to sign a military cooperation agreement. Britain said on Wednesday that it would help the two Nordic nations if they came under attack. Niinisto wrote on Twitter that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Finland’s firm support for Ukraine and the country’s plan to join NATO. Niinisto said Zelenskyy “expressed his full support for it.” The announcement came as Russia suffered another setback in its invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces this week drove Russian troops out of the area around its second-largest city Kharkiv. Russia already withdrew its forces from the area surrounding the capital, Kyiv.
Title: Finland Wants to Join NATO ‘Without Delay’
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/A13.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Finland Wants to Join NATO Without Delay' data-article-id='6098'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='6396'>Finland said on Thursday it would apply for NATO membership without delay.” </span> <span data-start-time='6396' data-end-time='12771'>Another Nordic country, Sweden, is also expected to seek membership.</span> <span data-start-time='12771' data-end-time='19167'>The decision angered Russia, whose military is struggling with its war in Ukraine. </span> <span data-start-time='19167' data-end-time='26542'>Russia invaded Ukraine in part to prevent an expansion of the NATO military alliance.</span> <span data-start-time='26542' data-end-time='39083'>Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement, “Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay. </span> <span data-start-time='39083' data-end-time='47583'>We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”</span> <span data-start-time='47583' data-end-time='56125'>The announcement signaled that the Nordic country has dropped its position of neutrality that it held throughout the Cold War.</span> <span data-start-time='56125' data-end-time='62563'>The two leaders added, “NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. </span> <span data-start-time='62563' data-end-time='69021'>As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance.”</span> <span data-start-time='69021' data-end-time='76521'>Finland’s inclusion in NATO would bring the military alliance’s expansion right up to the Russian border. </span> <span data-start-time='76521' data-end-time='84042'>Finland has the longest border with Russia out of all the European Union’s 27 members.</span> <span data-start-time='84042' data-end-time='93313'>Russian officials had warned of “military and political repercussions” if Sweden and Finland decided to join NATO. </span> <span data-start-time='93313' data-end-time='102583'>Russian officials had also spoken about the possibility of stationing nuclear-armed missiles on the Baltic Sea.</span> <span data-start-time='102583' data-end-time='113500'>Finland’s announcement came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both Finland and Sweden to sign a military cooperation agreement. </span> <span data-start-time='113500' data-end-time='120625'>Britain said on Wednesday that it would help the two Nordic nations if they came under attack.</span> <span data-start-time='120625' data-end-time='132729'>Niinisto wrote on Twitter that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Finland’s firm support for Ukraine and the country’s plan to join NATO. </span> <span data-start-time='132729' data-end-time='137729'>Niinisto said Zelenskyy “expressed his full support for it.”</span> <span data-start-time='137729' data-end-time='144250'>The announcement came as Russia suffered another setback in its invasion of Ukraine. </span> <span data-start-time='144250' data-end-time='152667'>Ukrainian forces this week drove Russian troops out of the area around its second-largest city Kharkiv. </span> <span data-start-time='152667' data-end-time='158667'>Russia already withdrew its forces from the area surrounding the capital, Kyiv.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/A.jpeg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=18596 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/which_of_the_following_is_a_definition_of_the_word_delay.wav'>Which of the following is a definition of the word delay?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='a period of time by which something is late or postponed'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/a_period_of_time_by_which_something_is_late_or_postponed.wav'><span>a period of time by which something is late or postponed</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/a_secured_rope_for_a_climber.wav'><span>a secured rope for a climber</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/a_type_of_dance_performance.wav'><span>a type of dance performance</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/a_type_of_foot_race_with_multiple_people.wav'><span>a type of foot race with multiple people</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=18597 data-hint-location='6396' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/what_other_nordic_country_is_expected_to_seek_nato_membership.wav'>What other Nordic country is expected to seek NATO membership?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='Sweden'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/sweden.wav'><span>Sweden</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/russia.wav'><span>Russia</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/denmark.wav'><span>Denmark</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/argentina.wav'><span>Argentina</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=18598 data-hint-location='137729' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/the_announcement_came_as_russia_suffered_another_setback_in_its__blank__of_ukraine_.wav'>The announcement came as Russia suffered another setback in its <span class='blank'>invasion</span> of Ukraine. </div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='invasion'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/invasion.wav'><span>invasion</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/internet.wav'><span>internet</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/inversion.wav'><span>inversion</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5534/internship.wav'><span>internship</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button 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