"This is a world record speed for any new member state to join NATO" says Finnish foreign policy researcher Mika Aaltola as Turkey becomes the final NATO nation to ratify Finland's membership of the US-led defence alliance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Finland no longer is an outpost far removed from the main trunk of Europe. So now we are geographically connected (...) from that sense, things are much more complete than they used to be" he says. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES