NATO: Finland President Thanks Turkey For Approving Membership Bid

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has thanked Turkey's President Recep Erdoğan for the ratification process for his country's NATO membership bid.

Niinisto said in a joint news conference with President Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara; "We understood earlier on that you have done your decision and signing it today confirms that the Turkish Parliament starts to work with ratification of Finnish membership."

He added that Turkey's approval of Finland's NATO membership is an important news for the Finnish people.

Erdoğan also said Sweden has not responded positively to Turkey's extradition requests for terrorists.

"Turkey will continue to hold discussions with Sweden on terrorism-related issues, Sweden's NATO membership will directly rely on their measures", he stated.

Sweden and Finland applied to join the NATO alliance last year, all countries has approved the bids except Hungary and Turkey.

To be a member of NATO, all countries must ratify and approve bids before joining the military alliance.