(CNN) Turkey has finally approved Finland’s bid to join NATO, ending months of delays while continuing to block Sweden from joining the military alliance.
Turkey’s parliament voted unanimously in favor of Finland’s membership on Thursday, clearing the final hurdle in the accession process.
The vote fulfills Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “promise” to include Finland in the defense alliance. Turkey was the last NATO member to approve Finland’s entry, although Hungary did so only on Monday.
In a statement after the vote, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said his country was “now ready to join NATO”.
“All 30 NATO members have now ratified Finland’s membership. I want to thank each of them for their trust and support,” he also said. “Finland will be a strong and capable ally committed to the security of the Alliance.”
“We look forward to welcoming Sweden as soon as possible,” added the Finnish President.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also welcomed the decision. “I welcome the vote of the #Turkiye Grand National Assembly to complete the ratification of #Finland’s accession. This will make the entire #NATO family stronger and more secure,” Stoltenberg said in a tweet.
For decades, Finland and Sweden had committed themselves to non-alignment with NATO in order to avoid a provocation by Moscow. That all changed, however, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, forcing the two Scandinavian countries to reevaluate their neutral status.
An overwhelming majority of NATO members welcomed their requests and approved them within weeks. But two countries – Turkey and Hungary – started to delay the process.
NATO operates an open-door policy, meaning that any country can be invited to join if it expresses interest, so long as it is able and willing to abide by the principles of the bloc’s founding treaty. However, according to the accession rules, any member state can veto the accession of a new country.
Erdogan accused Finland and Sweden of harboring Kurdish “terrorist organizations”, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed they were spreading “blatant lies” about his country’s rule of law.
Turkey and Hungary later softened their stance on Finland’s accession, opening the door to its membership earlier this month. However, they remain opposed to Sweden’s accession – at least for the time being.
Hungary’s parliament voted 182 to six in favor of Finland’s motion on Monday. On Wednesday, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said there was “a large body of grievances that need to be addressed” before Sweden’s application to join NATO is ratified by the country.
Kovács wrote in a blog that relations between the two countries “have worn down over the years,” making “bridging the gap more of a challenge.”
“We see the need to get along with Sweden to continue,” he added.
Turkey also seems to be staunchly opposed to Sweden’s membership. Erdoğan has previously said Turkey will not approve Sweden’s NATO membership unless the country extradites “terrorists” at Turkey’s request. Sweden has made it clear that this will not happen and the process is stuck for now.
Turkey is a powerful NATO member with the bloc’s second largest military after the United States. Its location on the alliance’s south-eastern flank makes it a strategically important member. It acts as a buffer between the West and a number of Middle Eastern nations with a history of political instability and where Western states have vested interests. The fact that it joined Allianz in 1952, just three years after its founding, adds to its clout.
However, under Erdogan’s leadership, the country has become a somewhat troublesome member.
Erdogan has disagreed with NATO allies on a number of issues, including Syria and Libya, and declined to appoint Denmark’s Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO chief until US President Barack Obama promised that one of Rasmussen’s deputies would be Turkish would.
But Turkey has also benefited from its membership in the alliance, both in terms of security and political influence.
CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Yusuf Gezer, Jomana Karadsheh, Isil Sariyuce, Alex Hardie, Nadeen Ebrahim and Abbas Al Lawati contributed to the coverage.