Turkey on Thursday became the final NATO nation to ratify Finland’s membership of the US-led defence alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Lawmakers unanimously backed the Nordic country’s accession two weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly blessed the bid.
“This evening, we are keeping the promises we made to Finland,” ruling party lawmaker Akif Cagatay Kilic said moments before the vote.
Turkey’s approval leaves Finland — which has a 1,300-kilometre (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 and its neighbour Sweden ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to join NATO last May.
Their applications were accepted at a June alliance summit that was designed to show the Western world’s desire to stand up to Russia in the face of Europe’s most grave conflict since World War II.
But the bids still needed to be ratified by all the members’ parliaments — a process that stalled with Turkey and Hungary.
(With inputs from agencies)
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