Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (L) ship a joint press convention held after their assembly on the Presidential Complicated in Ankara, on March 17, 2023.
Adem Altan | Afp | Getty Pictures
Turkey’s parliament voted unanimously to formally approve Finland’s membership to NATO on Thursday, marking a historic step for the historically nonaligned Nordic nation that shares an 830-mile border with Russia.
The vote follows a months-long saga that noticed Turkey demand sure concessions from Finland and its neighbor Sweden, each of whom utilized to NATO in Could 2022 within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Becoming a member of NATO requires unanimous approval from all member states.
Turkey and Hungary remained the ultimate holdouts standing in the best way of the Nordic states’ accession to the 74-year previous alliance. Ankara has but to approve of Sweden’s membership bid, whereas Hungary — whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been on pleasant phrases with Russian chief Vladimir Putin — has accredited Finland’s accession, however not Sweden’s.
Turkey joined NATO in 1952, and has the second-largest navy within the alliance after the USA.
As of 2022, NATO has expanded to let in three former Soviet states and the entire former Warsaw Pact nations.
Bryn Bache | CNBC
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