The Turkish Parliament ratified this Thursday, March 30, unanimously, the Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)), which Ankara has blocked since May.
The candidacy of this Nordic country is now approved by all 30 member states of the military alliance led by the United States, unlike that of Sweden, which is still blocked by Ankara.
Of the 30 members of the Alliance, all that remained was for Turkey to approve the integration request of that country, which had subordinated the decision to Finland give guarantees that it would stop offering protection to the militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), whom Ankara accuses of being “terrorists”.
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After an intense session in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, which lasted for hours, Finland was on the brink of entering the bloc.
Turkey ended up valuing the steps taken by Finland and committing to put its entry into NATO to a vote, but not Sweden’s, which it considers did not fulfill the commitments made. Furthermore, a series of protests in Stockholm against Erdogan and Islam further tensed the situation in early February.
In this context, and although Finland initially planned to join the Atlantic Alliance hand in hand with its neighbor and main ally, it is finally advancing alone on its way to the bloc due to the stagnation of the Swedish case.
In the capital of Belgium, Brussels, will be next week the new summit of foreign ministers of the Member States of the Atlantic Alliance, to which Finland could attend as the 31st member of the block.
According to the procedure, once all the members of the Alliance and the candidates approve the accession protocols, the documents must be sent to the United States. The applicant country becomes a member of NATO when Washington has all the documents.
“This will make the entire NATO family stronger and more secure,” the secretary general said.
NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenbergwelcomed the ratification of Finland’s membership in the military alliance by the Turkish Parliament.
In a message on Twitter, Stoltenberg gave the go-ahead for a vote by Turkish lawmakers “to conclude the ratification of Finland’s accession.” “This will make the whole NATO family stronger and more secure”added the Norwegian responsible for the social network.
News in development
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