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The Turkish parliament on Thursday evening gave the green light to join NATO. Finland’s application to join the military alliance was confirmed with the votes of all 276 participating MPs, according to the televised live vote. Turkey was the last of the 30 NATO member states to agree to Finland’s membership application.
Following Turkey’s final approval, Finland could become NATO’s 31st member as early as next week. The outstanding formalities should be completed in the coming days, several diplomats told the German news agency in Brussels on Thursday. The admission could then already be sealed at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers 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 become an official member.
Finland shares a 1340 km border with Russia. Impressed by the Russian offensive war in Ukraine, the country decided last May together with Sweden to apply for admission to the Western Defense Alliance.
Finland actually wanted to join NATO together with Sweden. However, Turkey continues to block Sweden’s admission and Hungary’s ratification is pending. Yet the people of Stockholm remain confident.
Turkey accuses Sweden of not acting consistently enough against “terrorist organisations” and criticizes the fact that extradition requests are not answered. Sweden recently presented a draft for stricter terrorism laws, but so far this has not changed the Turkish blockade.
The next NATO summit will take place in Lithuania in July. Despite Turkey’s existing objections, the Swedish government was confident that it would then be able to join the alliance in Vilnius. Sweden is hopeful that this will happen, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told the TT news agency on Thursday.
In view of Hungary’s actions, he said: “We see no reason why we should not be ratified.” In that respect, it is about something very different from the Swedish NATO request, namely about the EU’s views on Hungary. (SDA/AFP)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
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