Many wanted to celebrate Finland’s NATO membership with a bubbly couple on Tuesday.
Finland’s historic NATO membership was sealed on Tuesday, and joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was completed at a fairly fast pace.
Ten people sang the Finlandia anthem on Senate Square on Tuesday evening. Some of the Finns celebrated their membership with coffee and cake.
The celebration of NATO membership was also visible in Alko. According to information from Iltalehti, partygoers went shopping for sparkling wine in honor of their membership.
Alko’s Business Director Kari Pennanen says that NATO membership is one cause of celebration among others. However, he adds that on Tuesday’s store tour in Oulu, it became clear that NATO sparkling wines had been purchased in several stores.
– I visited about a dozen stores, and almost all of them said that people bought sparkling wine in honor of NATO, says Pennanen.
Service manager of the Pekur store in the center of Oulu Salla Sallnén says that people were clearly in a festive mood. Customers clearly followed the effervescence to go shopping.
Many celebrated Finland’s NATO membership with bubbly. In the beginning, it was noticeable that there was more sparkling wine than usual on a Tuesday night. Martin Roth
– The customers emphasized to the salesmen that they came to get the name Nato scum. Even small bottles of champagne went well, says Sallnén.
Tuesday’s historic decision was especially visible in the sale of small piccolo bottles.
– Yes, there was clearly a party atmosphere in the air.
Also in Helsinki’s Alkoi, the NATO news boosted sales. Service manager of Barracks, Arkadia and Old Market Hall Päivi Aarnion the observations follow the comments of a colleague from Oulu.
– From what I’ve talked to the sellers, yes, more sparkling wine has been sold, he states.
The spike in sparkling wine sales differed somewhat from the usual Tuesday. According to the staff, there was enough customer flow from NATO membership.
– We even had champagne and it went really well, Aarnio states.
Finland’s NATO membership was confirmed on Tuesday in Brussels, when Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto handed the accession papers to US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken.