NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday Finland will become the 31st member of the world�s biggest military alliance on Tuesday, and that he hopes its neighbor Sweden can join in coming months.

�This is a historic week,� Stoltenberg told reporters on the eve of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. �From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance.�

The former Norwegian prime minister said that on Tuesday afternoon, �we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland�s security, for Nordic security, and for NATO as a whole.�

Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland�s membership, will hand its official texts to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday. Stoltenberg said he would then invite Finland to do the same.

Finnish President Sauli Niinist� and Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen will attend the ceremony, along with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

�It is a historic moment for us. For Finland, the most important objective at the meeting will be to emphasize NATO�s support to Ukraine as Russia continues its illegal aggression. We seek to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region,� Haavisto said in a statement.

The development comes as Finnish voters gave a boost to conservative parties in a weekend election, depriving left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin of another term.

Fearing that they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the Nordic neighbors Finland and Sweden abandoned their traditional positions of military non-alignment to seek protection under NATO�s security umbrella.

All 30 allies signed Finland�s and Sweden�s accession protocols. Turkey and Hungary delayed the process for months but have relented on Finland. Turkey has sought guarantees and assurances from the two, notably on tackling extremism. Hungary�s demands have never been explicit.

NATO must agree unanimously for new members to join.

(AP)