Turkey Votes in Favor of Finland’s NATO Membership

By Staff, Agencies

Turkey on Thursday became the final member to approve Finland’s membership in the NATO.

The Turkish parliament voted in favor of the Nordic country’s bid, thus allowing Finland to become the 31st NATO member. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed Finland’s candidacy earlier this month following months of negotiations.

Ankara's ratification leaves Finland, which has an 800-mile border with Russia, with only a few technical steps before it becomes the 31st member of the world's most powerful military bloc.

Officials expect the process to be completed as early as next week.

Finland along with neighboring Sweden decided to end decades of military non-alignment and applied to join the US-led military alliance last May. To be accepted, their bids had to be ratified by the parliaments of all NATO members.

By joining NATO, Finland will nearly double the length of the bloc’s current frontier with Russia, which listed NATO’s eastward expansion as one of the reasons for its military operation to Ukraine last February.