ANKARA, March 30 (Portal) – Turkey’s parliament on Thursday approved a bill allowing Finland to join NATO, paving the way for the country to become part of the western defense alliance as the war in Ukraine rages on .
Turkey’s parliament was the last of the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership after Hungarian lawmakers passed a similar bill earlier this week.
President Tayyip Erdogan said in early March that Finland had secured Turkey’s blessing after taking concrete steps to honor promises to crack down on groups considered terrorists by Ankara and to unblock arms exports.
Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the process was held up by Turkey and Hungary. The parliaments of all NATO members must ratify newcomers.
“NATO membership will strengthen Finland’s security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe,” the Finnish government said in a statement after the vote in Turkey’s parliament.
Turkey is still reluctant to approve Finland’s neighbor Sweden’s accession bid, which Ankara says hasn’t gone far enough to crack down on people Turkey considers terrorists. The three countries signed a pact on this topic last year.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament unanimously approved the Finland law last week. Turkey’s legislative process took place while preparing for the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections.
Finland’s membership would be the first expansion since North Macedonia joined the alliance in 2020.
Turkey has repeatedly said that Sweden must take additional steps against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of the network that blames Ankara for a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats both groups as terrorist organizations.
Talks between Sweden and Turkey have made little headway, especially after several rows mostly over street protests by pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm.
The US State Department said it welcomed Turkey’s ratification of Finland and encouraged it to quickly ratify Sweden’s accession as well.
“Sweden and Finland are both strong, capable partners who share NATO’s values and will strengthen the Alliance and contribute to European security,” said a spokesman for the department.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said shortly after Turkey’s vote: “Finland stands by Sweden and supports its bid now and in the future”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he had urged Turkey and Hungary to ratify both proposals. A vote on Sweden’s application has not yet been scheduled in Hungary.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The United States and other NATO allies hope the two Nordic countries will become members of the alliance at a NATO summit scheduled for July 11 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
The ratification of Finland’s NATO membership by Turkey’s parliament is set to be approved by President Tayyip Erdogan and then published in the country’s official gazette.
Finland has already completed the legal ratification process for its own part in anticipation of its forthcoming parliamentary elections on Sunday and a related election pause that could otherwise have delayed the process by a few months.
Upon completion of the ratification process, both Turkey and Hungary must send their approval documents to the US government in Washington, which is NATO’s depositary under the alliance’s founding treaty.
Stoltenberg will then officially invite Finland to join NATO.
As a final step, Finland will hand over its “accession instrument,” a document signed by its foreign minister, to the US government, the Finnish government said.
When Finland’s accession charter reaches the US State Department, the Nordic country will formally become a NATO member.
Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Mert Ozkan; Edited by Alistair Bell and Stephen Coates
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.