Finland inches closer to becoming NATO member while Sweden’s bid delayed by Turkey
NATO, Swedish and Finnish flags are seen in this illustration
Finland took one step closer to becoming a member of NATO as the country’s parliament kicked off a debate aimed at accelerating the bid to join the military alliance.
Finland lawmakers will debate a bill in this regard on Tuesday, when NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet with Prime Minister Sanna Marin and President Sauli Niinisto.
A vote on the bill will then take place on Wednesday, and is expected to sail through without much opposition, as the initial membership bid in May was backed by 188 of the 200 members in parliament.
Once the bill is approved by the parliament, it will be sent to the president, whose signature is required to formalise the bidding process.
After the president has signed the law, Finland will submit the instruments of accession to Washington.
Many MPs have been looking to push through the legislation for the NATO membership bid expeditiously before Finland goes into polls on April 2.
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Finland's NATO membership: Turkiye likely to approve the country's application
Finland and Sweden both applied to join the transatlantic defence alliance last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And NATO membership requires the support of all 30 members.
Though Finland received the backing of all the members, Sweden faced objections from Turkey over recent back-to-back protests in Stockholm.
While the first protest was led by a Kurdish group, where an effigy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was shown hanging from its feet in Stockholm. Another protest was organised by far-right politician Rasmus Paludan, who burnt a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy.
Erdogan had said that Turkey won’t support Sweden’s ascension bid to NATO, and demanded that they extradite dozens of suspects, which it considers “terrorists", including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Finland, on the other hand, was viewed favourably by Turkey, with its Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday saying, "We may separate Sweden and Finland's membership process.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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