Turkish parliament clears last hurdle in Finland’s NATO membership
Turkey’s Parliament on Thursday approved a bill that allows Finland to join the NATO military alliance, clearing the last major hurdle for Helsinki to join the US-led alliance as the year-long war in Ukraine rages on.
Ankara was the last among 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership, which came after months of dilly-dallying.
According to Press TV, all 276 legislators present in the Parliament on Thursday unanimously voted in favor of Finland’s bid, days after Hungary’s parliament gave its nod.
Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs commission unanimously approved the Finland Bill last week, as Ankara prepares for parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14.
Earlier in March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Finland secured its NATO membership after taking concrete steps to keep promises to crack down on what Ankara describes as "terrorist groups" in Finland, and to free up defense exports.
In a statement after the vote, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said his country is “now ready to join NATO” and thanked all the 30 member states of the Western alliance for supporting Finland’s bid.
“All 30 NATO members have now ratified Finland’s membership. I want to thank every one of them for their trust and support,” Niinisto was quoted as saying.
“Finland will be a strong and capable ally, committed to the security of the Alliance. We look forward to welcoming Sweden to join us as soon as possible”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also took to Twitter to commend the decision.
Finland and Sweden applied to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance in 2022 after Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine. But the process was delayed due to reservations expressed by Turkey and Hungary.
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