Finland will officially join NATO TOMORROW, says military alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg
- NATO general secretary Stoltenberg said Finland will join the alliance Tuesday
- Turkey finally ratified the Nordic country’s accession to the alliance last week
- Sweden’s bid to join NATO still hangs in the balance amid opposition from Turkey
Finland will officially join NATO tomorrow, becoming the 31st member of the military alliance, according to its general secretary Jens Stoltenberg.
‘From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance,’ Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday as NATO foreign ministers gather in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said he would then invite Finland to do the same.
A flag-raising ceremony to add the Finnish flag to those of the other members will take place at NATO headquarters on Tuesday afternoon.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference, ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, April 3, 2023
An empty flagpole stands between the national flags of France and Estonia outside NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, April 3, 2023. A flag-raising ceremony will soon see the Finnish flag flying in the Belgian capital
The successful bid for NATO membership will be one of the last triumphs in the term of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who is set to leave office after losing yesterday’s general election
Finland overcame the last significant hurdle in its bid to join NATO last week, when Turkey’s parliament approved a bill green-lighting the Nordic country’s accession to the military alliance.
Turkey was the last among the 30 NATO members to ratify Finland’s membership after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill earlier in the week.
President Tayyip Erdogan said in March that Finland had secured Turkey’s blessing after taking concrete steps to keep promises to crack down on groups seen by Ankara as terrorists, and to free up defence exports.
The successful bid for NATO membership will be one of the last triumphs in the term of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who is set to leave office after her Left-wing Social Democrats party came third in the general election yesterday with 19.19 per cent of the vote.
Turkey’s parliament last week approved a bill to allow Finland to join NATO, clearing the way for the it to join the Western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine. Pictured: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan with Finland President Sauli Niinisto
Turkey was the last among the 30 NATO members to ratify Finland’s membership. Pictured: Parliament votes in favour of Finland joining NATO in Ankara
Finland and Sweden submitted a joint bid to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.
The parliaments of all NATO members must approve newcomers.
Turkey is still holding off approving the NATO membership bid of Sweden, which they say has not gone far enough in cracking down on people Turkey considers terrorists.
Ankara has repeatedly said that Stockholm needs to take additional steps against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of a network it holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt.
Talks between Sweden and Turkey have made little progress, especially following street protests by pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said he had urged Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s application.
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