Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto this Thursday ratified legislation for the country to join NATO, which had already been almost unanimously approved by parliament, marking the final step in the national process of approving accession to the Atlantic Alliance was finalized.
On the 1st of this month, the Eduskunta (Finnish Parliament) approved by 184 votes to 7 the Nordic country’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a historic decision that ended decades of military neutrality and that now aims to strengthen security against possible aggression from neighboring Russia.
The accession process for Finland, which applied simultaneously with Sweden in May 2022, will be finalized once it has been ratified by Hungary and Turkey, the only two NATO members that have not yet approved it.
After several times postponing the debate and subsequent parliamentary vote on the accession of the two Nordic countries to the Atlantic Alliance, Budapest recently announced that parliament will vote in favor of Finland’s accession next Monday.
For his part, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated about a week ago, during Niinistö’s visit to Istanbul, that Ankara will give the “green light” for Finland’s entry into NATO, although it is not yet known when the ratification process in the Turkish parliament.
The Finnish authorities want NATO membership to be completed as soon as possible so that they can participate as full members on July 11-12 in the Atlantic Alliance Summit, which will take place in Lithuania on July 11-12.
Helsinki’s initial aim was to formalize accession at the same time as Sweden, but Hungary’s and especially Turkey’s unwillingness to Stockholm’s accession could prolong the Swedish process.
At the end of February, the Hungarian Prime Minister, the ultra-nationalist Viktor Orbán, assured that while he supports integration, both Sweden and Finland are “spreading lies” about the situation of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary.
Erdogan maintains his veto over Sweden’s accession because Stockholm refuses to extradite people Ankara believes to be linked to terrorist organisations, particularly from the Kurdish sphere, and demands continuation of negotiations.
Source: DN
