Türkiye approved Finland’s application to join NATO. Decree issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Web site State Gazette Official Gazette.
The decree said, “The ratification of the Protocol on the accession of the Republic of Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Brussels on 5 July 2022 was deemed appropriate.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve that he expects Finland to officially join the alliance in the coming days.
On 30 March, the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly approved Helsinki’s application to join NATO. Joining the bloc on 27 March was supported by the Hungarian Parliament.
Finland has now received approval from all NATO member states. On the Finnish government website registeredthat the invitation of the Secretary General of the alliance is necessary for the country’s formal entry into NATO. The signed document is then handed over to the US government.
Stockholm’s “brutal job”
Approval of the Helsinki application commented Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom.
“We are happy for Finland. This is an important step for the sister country and joining the alliance will strengthen the security of both Finland and Sweden. However, as Finland stated, their membership is not complete until Sweden becomes a member.
According to him, the Swedish government continues to “work tirelessly” for the country to join the alliance. However, Sweden has previously indicated that Finland is ready to join the alliance without it.
In mid-May 2022, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. All members of the alliance except Türkiye and Hungary have confirmed their candidacy for membership. He mentioned that the authorities in Budapest, Finland and Sweden did not show him enough respect. He referred to Ankara, Helsinki and Stockholm as hosting members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and FETO organization, which are considered terrorists in Turkey. Therefore, Ankara’s main demand was that the PKK and FETO members be expelled from the Scandinavian countries and handed over to the Turkish authorities.
In mid-March, Finnish President Sauli Niiniste arrived in Turkey to discuss issues with Erdogan regarding the country’s accession to NATO. Following the talks, the Turkish president said he had taken “sincere steps” to approve Helsinki’s bid to join the alliance.
Niiniste also said in March that the final confirmation of the country’s accession to NATO would take place before the 2024 US presidential election. TASS said this in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
“I think our application will be fully approved before the next election,” the Finnish leader said when asked if he expects difficulties in Finland joining NATO if Donald Trump becomes US president again.
“We also have to bear in mind that although Trump has often said that Europe should defend itself, many of his predecessors did the same,” Niiniste added.
Ankara has not yet approved Stockholm’s application. Relations between the countries escalated after Rasmus Paludan, the activist, head of the local far-right Hard Course, burned the Quran at a protest rally in front of the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital.