The Turkish parliament Thursday gave its unanimous approval of Finlands entry into NATO, thereby enabling Helsinki to become a member of the military alliance. However, this decision leaves Sweden excluded from joining.
In a matter of days, Finland may officially become a member of NATO.
Finnish President Sauli Niinist tweeted, All 30 NATO members have now ratified Finlands membership. Finland will be a strong and capable Ally, committed to the security of the Alliance, he said.
We look forward to welcoming Sweden to join us as soon as possible, the tweet further read.
pic.twitter.com/bK15QpZKGX
Sauli Niinist (@niinisto) March 30, 2023
After being delayed for several months, the Turkish vote on the matter took place in Ankara just minutes before midnight.
Finland and Sweden initially applied for membership last May, prompted by Russias invasion of Ukraine. And while the two countries were formally invited to join the alliance last summer, both Turkey and Hungary have been stalling on ratifying their memberships.
Despite striking a deal with Helsinki and Stockholm that led to policy changes, Ankara expressed concerns about the support of Kurdish groups and restrictions on arms exports by both countries.
However, while Finland was given the green light for membership, Ankara chose to delay Swedens approval.
Hungary has ratified Finlands membership, but a vote on Sweden is yet to be scheduled.
Following the ratification of its membership by the NATO member states, Finland will receive a formal invitation from the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, after which it will provide the U.S. with its instrument of accession.
Upon receiving this, the U.S. will issue a statement acknowledging that Finland is now a member of the North Atlantic Treaty.
This, Stoltenberg tweeted, will make the whole NATO family stronger safer.
