Turkey in agreement on Finland’s accession to NATO

31.03.2023

On Thursday (30th), the Turkish parliament unanimously approved Finland’s accession to NATO. However, Sweden, which also applied to join, still faces obstacles.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Turkey’s parliament approved Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Thursday (March 30), becoming the last country among 30 NATO members to approve Finland’s application. Finland will become NATO’s 31st member country when final procedures are completed; officials said the process could be completed as soon as next week.

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his willingness to allow Finland to join NATO after months of negotiations. Akif Cagatay Kilic, a member of Turkey’s ruling party, said before the vote: “Tonight, we will honor our commitment to Finland.” Subsequently, the Turkish parliament unanimously approved Finland’s application to join NATO.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the movesaying it would make NATO “stronger and more secure”.

JOINING THE ROAD TO NATO

Finland shares a border with Russia, and the border between the two countries is 1,300 kilometers long. Russia invaded Ukraine last year,Concerns in Finland and Sweden, worrying that it may be the next target of Russia’s aggression. Since then, Finland and Sweden have abandoned their long-term policy of “non-alignment” in the military and applied to join NATO in May last year.

To join NATO, all member states need to agree.At this stage, due toTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unhappy with Sweden’s policy on Kurdscontinued to block Sweden from joining NATO.

Last week, the Hungarian parliament approved Finland’s NATO membership, but a vote on Sweden was not yet on the parliamentary agenda. A spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Orban (Viktor Orban) called on Sweden on the 29th to respond to the grievances raised by the outside world and eliminate the unhappiness between all parties.

Sweden still ‘holds out hope’

Last week, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said it was “necessary to know” that Sweden could become a member of NATO ahead of the NATO summit in July this year.

But on the 30th, Bilstrom told the Swedish News Agency that he had learned of the Hungarian statement and had to modify his statement: “I think in this situation, the word ‘holding hope’ is more appropriate.”

(AFP, DPA)

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