JOIN THE CLUB

Finland One Step Closer to NATO Membership as Turkey Backs Bid

But Sweden’s application will remain in limbo for now.

Turkey on Friday said that it will move to ratify Finland’s bid to join NATO, clearing the way for the military alliance’s expansion. “We decided to start the ratification process in our Parliament for Finland’s membership,” Turkish President Erdogan said at a news conference. NATO’s 30 member states must unanimously approve any new entries into the organization, with Hungary now the only remaining member which has refused to ratify Finland’s application. It may now become possible for Finland to join NATO without neighboring Sweden, despite both countries vowing to join the bloc “hand in hand.” Both Nordic countries abandoned decades-old policies of military non-alignment in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, submitting simultaneous bids to enter NATO. Russia’s Foreign Ministry last year warned Finland against the move, vowing to “take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to neutralize the threats” to Russian national security.