Finland’s path to NATO is finally clear. Late on Thursday evening, Turkey was the last NATO member to vote for the Nordic country to join the defense alliance. A large majority in the Turkish parliament voted shortly before midnight (local time) for admission – all that is now missing is formalities before Finland can shortly become the 31st NATO member. 28 of the 30 current NATO members had long ago voted in favor of Hungary on Monday.
“Finland is now ready to join NATO,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö wrote on Twitter immediately after the Turkish vote. Without naming Turkey individually, he thanked all 30 NATO members for their trust and support. His country will be a strong and capable ally. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin also sent a collective thank you to all NATO members via Twitter. Both also expressed their support for Finland’s neighboring country Sweden on its way to NATO.
Finland before parliamentary elections
For the Finns, the approval from Ankara comes at a special time: a new parliament will be elected in their country on Sunday. But even in the event of a change of government in Helsinki, Finland’s entry into NATO is unlikely to change: there is a broad consensus in the country that the western defense alliance should be joined.
A major reason for this unity is the approximately 1,340-kilometer-long border with Russia. Under the impression of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden decided last May to apply for NATO membership.
Unlike Finland, however, Sweden is still missing the ratification of Hungary and Turkey. Turkey accuses Sweden of taking insufficient action against “terrorist organizations” and criticizes the fact that extradition requests are not answered. Hungary, on the other hand, recently criticized Swedish statements on the rule of law and corruption – although the Swedes had not expected any objections from Budapest for a long time.
Sweden hopeful
When – and if – the two countries will give Sweden their blessing is still unclear. Sweden hopes that this could be the case by the next NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July.
Finland, on the other hand, could become a NATO member as early as next week after Turkey’s approval, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced almost two weeks ago. Outstanding formalities should be completed in the next few days, said several diplomats before the Turkish vote by the German Press Agency in Brussels. Admission could then already be sealed at the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to information from NATO circles, Turkey has yet to officially report the ratification of the accession protocol to the US State Department. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg can then officially invite Finland to join. If Finland then accepts and deposits the relevant documents, it will officially become a member.
