the president of finland will now deliver_ the president of finland will now deliver his — the president of finland will now deliver his address. secretary—general stoltenberg, ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. finland today has become the 31st member of nato. the era of military nonalignment in our history has come to an end. a new era begins. each country maximises its own security, and so does finland. nato membership strengthens our international position and room for manoeuvre. as a partner, we have actively participated in nato

activities. as an ally, finland will contribute to nato�*s collective deterrent and defence. . membership of the alliance provides security for finland. finland on the other hand provides security for the alliance. the finland commitment to security of member states will be reliable as an ally. that strengthens regional stability. membership is not targeted against anyone, nor does it change the foundations or objectives of finland's security policy. finland is a stable and predictable nordic country that seeks peaceful resolution of disputes. the

principles and values that are important to finland will continue to guide ourforeign policy important to finland will continue to guide our foreign policy also important to finland will continue to guide ourforeign policy also in the future. nato membership does not change everything. but being an ally requires finland to adapt to new ways of thinking and some changes in legislation as well. a lot has already been done. for years, we have developed our nato compatibility. there are still efforts to integrate the finnish defence as part of nato�*s common defence. the finnish forces are facing new demands and challenges to which we must respond. at the same

time, it is clear that finland most significant contribution to nato�*s collective deterrence and defence is built on the security and defence of our own territory. in this respect, the finnish concept of comprehensive security retains its value. but we no longer do this work alone. last year finland applied to join nato together with sweden. as i have stressed, finland's membership is not complete without that of sweden. our persistent efforts for a rapid swedish membership will continue. i look forward to seeing sweden join us as the 32nd member at the vilnius

summit injuly. i want to thank you, mr secretary—general. you and your people, your health has been very important and you have been backing us in every moment of this procedure. we really give a lot of value to that and to our partners. thank you. applause so there we had statements from both the general secretary of nato, jens stoltenberg, and the finish resident. let's wait for the moment of the raising of the flag. -- the finnish president. kit} of the raising of the flag. -- the finnish president. aco headquarters in belgium, finnish president. aco headquarters m belglum, and— finnish president. aco headquarters in belgium, and act— finnish president. aco headquarters in belgium, and act headquarters- finnish president. aco headquarters in belgium, and act headquarters in | in belgium, and act headquarters in norfolk, virginia.

he speaks french anthem plays

the nato him will now be played. -- the nato him will now be played. -- the nato him will now be played. -- the nato him.

this concludes the flag raising ceremony. i invite the ministers to turn around for the family portrait. as always, with moments like this, the family portrait, the photo opportunity is an important part of the proceedings. and all the foreign

secretaries and finnish president have turned around where they will be facing the world press and media, and this will be a great photo opportunity on one for the photo album, i'm sure. just to recap what happened today, as we have been bringing you the latest live on there. finland has become the 31st member of nato. there is a family photo. smiles from all of the ministers. and the handshake that between jens ministers. and the handshake that betweenjens stoltenberg and the president of finland. so, this ceremony marks the end of a process that began a year ago when finland together with sweden applied to become a member of nato following the invasion of ukraine by russia.

finland, of course, shares a very long land border, 1340 kilometres long, with russia, and that is 832 miles for those that way inclined. the frontier with russia is a long one and finland felt that it needed very much to secure part of this defensive alliance, so we saw there the ceremony a bit earlier when the finnish foreign minister handed the file, the accession document to the us secretary of state, and now you can see a beautiful, sunny day in brussels outside the nato headquarters. now, we know for a fact that in previous years finland and sweden both adopted a policy of nonalignment. it's kind of like a neutral policy but that all changed with the war in ukraine and public

opinion is very much in support of this. in fact 80% of the finnish population are in favour ofjoining nato. early on we heard from the us equity of state who was tempted to say that maybe this is the one thing we can thank vladimir putin for. now, all eyes will be on sweden because their application is still in there but has been stuck with the turkish president stalling that application, accusing stockholm of embracing kurdish militants and allowing them to demonstrate against turkey on the streets. my colleague matthew will be here in a few minutes bringing you the very latest. you are watching bbc news. do go to our website, as always, if you want even more information on all the stories you've been watching on the bbc. from the other team in london, thank you for your company and thanks for

watching and stay us on the bbc. lets see how the weather is looking for the rest of the day. for most of us, not bad at all. particularly a crossing in wales are not the case in scotland and northern ireland where we are closer to a weather front and rain is expected in some areas if it hasn't reached you already. but england and wales is under the influence of high pressure and you can see it here, close to denmark and this nose shape stretching towards the south—west, and talking about noses. high pollen levels across england and wales through the course of today. and these levels will vary as we go through the rest of the week. here

the temperatures at the end of the afternoon at around 11 to 14 degrees and here is the thick cloud on the outbreaks of rain reaching northern ireland, western and northern scotland, perhaps a few splits and spots of rain through the early hours reaching wales but the bulk of england should be dry and clear into the evening and overnight and once again a touch of frost on the way across east anglia and the south—east but elsewhere it will be mild because we are close to a weather front and in fact the weather front and in fact the weather fronts are right over us and when you are in between weather fronts like this it means there is a fair amount fronts like this it means there is a fairamount of mild fronts like this it means there is a fair amount of mild air stuck, so tomorrow, wednesday, we are calling it a mild, tomorrow, wednesday, we are calling ita mild, damp, cloudy day tomorrow, wednesday, we are calling it a mild, damp, cloudy day for many areas across northern and western parts of the country and you can see the weather makes more progress northwards, but not so much east, so it looks as though in norwich and london it should be dry for the bulk of the day on wednesday. let's have a look at thursday. the weather front will have swept through the country and behind it more of a north—westerly breeze, so things are

going to feel a little bit cooler on thursday but more sunny spells around and notice there are a few showers dotted a round in the wake of the weather front sweeping through on wednesday night into thursday. and then on friday, at the weekend and into next week, it looks as though we pick up the south—westerly is and that is going to draw in much milder airfrom the south and the weather will settle down as well, so if we look at the outlook, it looks as though things are going to turn a bit milder, 14, 15, 16, possibly the are going to turn a bit milder, 14, 15,16, possibly the high are going to turn a bit milder, 14, 15, 16, possibly the high teens across the south and a little bit more changeable for the north. goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. drama in new york — donald trump is due in court to face criminal charges. we're there live. this is the scene in manhattan — tight security outside the courthouse where the former president will appear in the next few hours. finland joins nato, becoming its 31st member — spurred on by russia's invasion of ukraine. president putin wanted to slam nato�*s door shut. today we show the world that he failed. english councils warn people will be left without the care they need after the government halves promised funding for social care.