Finland on Thursday won the final approval to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in what continues to be the organisation’s eastward expansion ignoring Russia’s security concerns.

A late-night vote of the Turkish parliament handed Finland the much sought-after pass, completing the unanimous agreement of the 30-member countries of the organisation needed to admit a new member.

Finland has an 830-mile border with Russia which NATO has eyed as an asset should the alliance orchestrate a military confrontation with Russia.

On the other hand, Russia has not taken lightly NATO’s expansion aimed strategically at putting tanks on its borders. On Wednesday, the Russian embassy in Sweden said Moscow would take legitimate retaliatory measures, including military actions.

“If anyone still believes that this will somehow improve Europe’s security, you can be sure that the new members of the hostile bloc will become a legitimate target for Russia’s retaliatory measures, including military ones,” the embassy posted on its Facebook page.