Finland to officially become NATO member after Turkey approves bid to join military alliance

3 April 2023, 14:02 | Updated: 3 April 2023, 14:51

Finland will officially become a member of NATO on Tuesday, senior officials have said, after Turkey approved its bid to join the military alliance.

The nordic country applied to join the military alliance amid security concerns following the last year's invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which it shares a land border with.

NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg confirmed the move, saying it would make Finland as well as other members "safer".

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Mr Stoltenberg said: "We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole."

Turkey, which was the last NATO member to ratify Finland's membership, had previously held out from supporting Finland's membership over concerns about Kurdish terrorist activity in the country.

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But Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his approval to the membership bid earlier in March, praising the "concrete steps" taken by Finland over Turkish security.

Finland set to officially join NATO

However, Ankara continues to block the approval of Sweden's membership, claiming Stockholm hasn't yet sufficiently clamped down on similar groups.

It has repeatedly said Sweden needed to take further steps against members of the network it blames for a coup attempt in 2016 and supporters of Kurdish militants, both of which Turkey treats as terrorist organisations.

Little progress has been made in talks between the two countries.

Mr Stoltenberg has called on Turkey to give approval to Sweden's application.

Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister, tweeted: “As allies, we will give and receive security. We will defend each other. Finland stands with Sweden now and in the future and supports its application.”