On Thursday, Turkey’s Parliamentary Commission approved a bill to ratify Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, the bill still needs approval from the Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly, which is likely to do so before it closes in mid-April, prior to the 14 May presidential and parliamentary elections.
Last week, during a joint press conference in Ankara with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the Parliament would approve Helsinki's membership in NATO.
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 23, 2023
The Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has approved Finland's NATO membership application.
Another round of NATO expansion is about the become a fact. Well played Putin…
🇹🇷🇫🇮 pic.twitter.com/J5XlXeUZ9A
Bid for NATO Membership
NATO, a group currently comprising 30 countries, was formed in 1949 to restrict Russian expansion in Europe. The members agreed to protect each other when under attack. Following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, many of its former satellite states were granted NATO membership. To approve the membership of a new country, all member states’ parliaments must vote in favour of the bid.
Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership after Russia’s invaded Ukraine last February. Finland has a land border with Russia to the east, and shares some of its western border with Sweden, which lies opposite Finland across the Baltic Sea.
This proximity to Russia, which has annexed parts of Ukrainian territory over the past year, has raised security and sovereignty concerns in both the Nordic nations.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed it was the “quickest accession process in NATO’s modern history,” as both countries had applied for membership in May, and were already invited by June.
He added that accepting Finland and Sweden as NATO members “will be good for all of us.”
President of the Republic @niinisto decided on Finland’s accession to NATO by approving Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty and the Ottawa Agreement, which were accepted by the Parliament of Finland on 1 March 2023.@Ulkoministerio I @TPKanslia pic.twitter.com/HOkuK6LZIK
— Finnish Government (@FinGovernment) March 23, 2023
Delays in Approval
Turkey had previously withheld the approval to ratify Finland and Sweden’s NATO memberships, as it accused both countries of refusing to extradite alleged Kurdish terrorists despite its demands.
Sweden’s bid to accession was further jeoparidised due to anti-Islamic protests, wherein a Quran was burned outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
Erdoğan stated in January that Finland may have to join NATO without its Nordic neighbour. He further warned Sweden, “If you absolutely want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us.”
Additionally, Hungary has delayed its decision and has yet to sign both countries’ approval, on which it will vote on 27 March.
Finland Seals Bid, Sweden Left Hanging
Meanwhile, President Niinistö formally signed the national legal amendments required to approve his country’s membership in the Western military alliance.
However, while Swedish lawmakers voted almost unanimously in favour of joining NATO on Wednesday, PM Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday that he would question Hungary — one of the two NATO members left to approve the Swedish bid — regarding its decision to ratify Finland’s application before Sweden’s. Kristersson added that this is a “signal that we have not received before.”