Turkish Parliament Ratification Of Finland NATO Membership, Sweden Still Must Wait

PM Sanna Marin and President Sauli Niinisto announced the registration of NATO membership for Finland 15 May 2022. (Wikimedia Commons/FinnishGovernment)

JAKARTA - The Turkish Parliament approved a bill on Thursday regarding the membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for Finland, paving the way for the country to become part of the Western defense alliance amid raging war in Ukraine.

The Turkish parliament is the last of 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership, after Hungarian legislature approved the same bill earlier this week.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in early March, Finland had received the blessing of Turkey after taking concrete steps to keep promises to take firm action against groups deemed terrorists, as well as free defense exports.

"NATO membership will strengthen Finland's security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe," the Finnish government said in a statement after a vote in the Turkish Parliament.

Earlier, the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission unanimously approved the Finnish bill last week. Turkey's legislative process is underway as they prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14.

Finland's membership will be the first expansion since North Macedonia joined the alliance in 2020.

Unlike Finland, Turkey still has not approved Sweden's membership, which Ankara said is not far enough in cracking down on people Turkey deems terrorists.

Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The three countries have signed a pact on the issue of taking action against this terrorist group last year.

Turkey has repeatedly said Sweden needs to take additional steps against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of the network deemed responsible for its 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats the two groups as terrorist organizations.

Talks between Sweden and Turkey have made little progress, especially after several disputes over street protests by pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm.

Separately, the US State Department said it welcomed Turkish ratification for Finland, while encouraging Ankara to immediately ratify Sweden's accession.

All NATO member countries have ratified Finland’s membership.NATO membership will strengthen Finland’s security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe. pic.twitter.com/PE9MNHoUkM

— Finnish Government (@FinGovernment) March 30, 2023

"Swedia and Finland are strong and capable partners with NATO values, will strengthen the Alliance and contribute to European security," a US State Department spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, shortly after the vote in Turkey, said: "Finland supports Sweden now and in the future, supporting its applications".

The ratification of Finland's NATO membership by the Turkish Parliament will be approved by President Tayyip Erdogan and later published in the State Sheet.

After completing the ratification process, both Turkey and Hungary must send documents of their approval to the US Government in Washington, which is a NATO storage area under the alliance's founding agreement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will then formally invite Finland to join NATO.

As a final step, Finland will submit an "accessi instrument", a document signed by its foreign minister, to the US Government, the Finnish Government said.

When Finnish accession instrument documents are received by the US State Department, the Nordic country will officially become a NATO member.

It is known that the United States and other NATO countries hope Finland and Sweden will become members of this alliance at a summit of NATO on July 11 in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.