THE GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY of Turkey on Thursday voted 276–0 in favour of ratifying the Finnish bid to accede to Nato, inducing a series of satisfied comments from policy makers in Finland.
The ratification is set to be next approved by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkey will thereby become the last of the 30 member states to ratify the membership, having dragged its feet on the issue for months in a bid to elicit action against what it sees as terrorists from Finland and Sweden.
The Swedish membership application has yet to be ratified by either Hungary or Turkey. Finland and Sweden submitted their applications to join the defence alliance on 18 May 2022.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said on Twitter he is grateful to all members of the defence alliance for their confidence and support during what ended up being an over 10-month ratification process.
“Finland will become a strong and capable ally that is committed to the security of the alliance. Finland is now ready to join Nato. We expect Sweden will be able to join us as a member as soon as possible,” he stated on Twitter.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) similarly expressed her gratitude for the support of other countries in the past months.
“As an ally, we will receive and provide security. We will defend one another. Today and in the future, Finland stands by Sweden and supports the country’s membership application,” she commented.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
