XAR - Finland seeks to apply for NATO membership 'without delay'

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin have announced that the country should apply to join NATO "without delay," forgoing a decades-long policy of military neutrality following Russia's war in Ukraine. That position is sure to be seen as an escalation by Russia, which shares an 830-mile border with Finland (and would double the amount of "land borders" it shares with NATO territories). The Finnish government is set to debate the NATO application over the weekend, while parliament is expected to give its final approval as early as Monday. Upping the rhetoric: Earlier on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that Russia was the "most direct threat to the world order with the barbaric war against Ukraine." She also cited Moscow's "worrying pact" with China and "their call for new, and very much arbitrary, international relations." Meanwhile, G7 nation Japan voiced its agreement at the

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Finland seeks to apply for NATO membership 'without delay'