Turkish lawmakers unanimously backed the decision by 276-0 votes in the 600-seat parliament. Finland’s NATO accession protocol at the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Following the Russian attack on Ukraine, two Baltic States, Sweden and Finland, abandoned their years-long military non-alignment policy and decided to join NATO. Turkiye and Hungary refused both countries accession for different reasons. Admitting a new country requires unanimous agreement from all member countries.
Following a protocol between Turkiye, Sweden and Finland, progress was made towards accession, but Turkiye was unconvinced with the protocol’s practice. Following the deadlock between Turkiye and Sweden, Finland decided to move the accession path alone. Turkiye stated that it would not refuse Finland’s accession.
As a result, it became the final of 30 NATO member states to support Finland’s accession, removing the last significant barrier to the country’s membership in the military alliance. Hungary approved Finland’s NATO bid last week, but the vote on Sweden has yet to be scheduled.
Finland has a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia and is only a few technical steps away from becoming the alliance’s 31st member.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan still has to approve the parliament's bill on Finland's membership.
