Turkey approved Finland's application to join NATO on Thursday. The vote was unanimous among the 257 lawmakers. Finland now has the approval of all thirty NATO members to join. This comes after months of delays and uncertainty from the ongoing Ukraine and Russia war.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General tweeted after Finland’s approval: “I welcome the vote of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to complete the ratification of Finland’s accession. This will make the whole NATO family stronger & safer.” He continued by saying He congratulated Finland’s president Sauli Niinistö. "He looks forward to raising Finland's flag at the NATO headquarters in the coming days." That will make the whole of NATO stronger and safer.
Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö posted a statement on Twitter saying that he “thanks all of them (NATO) for their trust and support. Finland will be a strong and capable ally, committed to the security of the Alliance.” He continued by saying that he looks forward to Sweden joining the NATO alliance as soon as possible. Both countries have been threatened by the Russian government over their involvement in the war by giving Ukraine ammunition and resources.
Vlad Dzabarvov, a Russian Senator threatened Finland in March 2022 saying that their accession would make them a Russian target. This prompted both countries to start the process to apply for NATO membership.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with The Guardian in June 2022: “He is fine with Sweden and Finland joining the NATO alliance and that they don’t face any threat from us.”
In the month prior, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement stating that if Finland joined NATO it would be a direct violation of the international legal obligations of Finland, citing the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, and "that if they were to join, Russia would be forced to take retaliatory steps, to stop threats to its national security. {directly translated}”
Last week Finland’s sister country Sweden approved a bill for their country to join the NATO alliance. Sweden is expected to be ratified into the alliance later this year.
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