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BRUSSELS – Turkey’s parliament has approved Finland’s application for NATO membership, paving the way for the Nordic country to join the security alliance.
The decision applies only to Finland, not to Sweden, its neighbor and co-membership candidate. Both countries applied on the same day last year after making the decision to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Thursday’s vote was the final hurdle in Finland’s bid to join the military organization. Its eventual accession would reshape European security, double NATO’s land border with Russia, and bring the full force of the Alliance to the far north of Europe.
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Turkey was the last remnant among NATO member countries that must unanimously approve new members. Once it notifies the United States that it has approved Finland’s bid, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary-general, will formally invite Finland to join the Washington Treaty, NATO said.
Earlier this month, Erdogan said he would not support Sweden’s membership until he sees more “concrete steps” from the country over Stockholm’s refusal to extradite “terrorists” affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. NATO officials say Sweden has fulfilled the terms of an earlier agreement on the matter.
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Meanwhile, Hungary entered the fray, ratifying Finland’s offer but also saying it would stand up to Sweden. In a blog post this week, Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian government, said his country had a “rich body of grievances” against Sweden, including its “crumbling throne of moral superiority,” and needed time to address them.
Though most officials and analysts believe both countries will eventually support Sweden, the dispute is taking time and energy — all while Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine.
Turkey backs Finland for NATO membership, snubs Sweden
Turkey’s parliament gave the green light after Finnish officials traveled to Turkey earlier this month for talks on their bid for membership and Erdogan signaled his support. At a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, the Turkish leader hailed Finland for taking “sincere and concrete steps” to fulfill the security commitments it made to Turkey at a NATO summit in Madrid nearly a year ago .
“We have decided to start the approval process of Finland’s NATO accession protocol in our parliament based on the sensitivity and distance our country has achieved in handling our security concerns,” Erdogan said in Ankara, adding that the talks with Sweden ” would be continued on the basis of the principles of our Alliance and our counter-terrorism approach.”
Finland and Sweden had planned to join NATO “hand in hand”. But resistance from Turkey for much of the past year seemed to take the coalition by surprise, forcing potential members to ditch their offers. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson appeared to concede earlier this month that Finland would take the lead. “It is not excluded that Sweden and Finland will ratify in different steps,” he said.
Finland’s entry into NATO marks the end of the country’s decades-long tradition of military neutrality. The government of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin – which has spearheaded the country’s move towards NATO – is fighting what is expected to be a tight contest for re-election. Erdogan is up for re-election in May.
Timsit reported from London and Fahim from Istanbul.
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