NATO Hails Turkey's Approval Of Finland's Membership

The NATO allies on Friday hailed Turkey after it approved Finland's application to join the NATO.

It became the last nation after Hungary to greenlight the Nordic country’s membership in the security alliance.

All 276 lawmakers present in Turkey's Parliament voted unanimously in favor of Finland’s bid, days after Hungary’s Parliament also endorsed Finland’s.

In a statement released shortly after the Turkish approval, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto thanked all NATO members for approving their membership.

He said; "Finland will be a strong and capable ally, committed to the security of the alliance."

Niinisto added that his country is ready to join NATO and is looking forward to welcoming Sweden as soon as possible.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also hailed the Turkish Parliament’s ratification.

"I welcome the vote of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye to complete the ratification of Finland's accession. This will make the whole NATO family stronger & safer," he said;

Turkey has been swarmed by pleas from Swedish, Finnish and NATO officials to greenlight their membership bids since they applied to join the bloc last year.

For a new country to join NATO, each of the alliance's existing members needs to give its formal approval.

However, Sweden's membership is still pending ratification due to Turkey's concerns over terrorism.

Hungary has also not yet voted to ratify Sweden's NATO membership.