Finland will become the 31st member of NATO in the coming days, following a vote from the Turkish parliament, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
The parliaments of all NATO members must ratify newcomers.
The comment came a day after Turkey’s parliament approved a bill to allow Finland to join NATO, clearing the way for the country to become part of the Western defense alliance as war rages in Ukraine.
The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week.
President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in March that Finland had secured Turkey’s vote after taking concrete steps to keep promises to crack down on groups seen by Ankara as terrorists, and to free up defense exports.
Sweden was kept waiting by Turkey, which is holding its vote for the country to become a NATO member.
Ankara is not voting for it because it says that Sweden is not taking action to an appropriate degree against groups that Ankara calls terrorist. Finland, Sweden, and Turkey signed a pact on the issue last year.
Stoltenberg said that “All allies agree that a rapid conclusion of the ratification process for Sweden will be in everyone’s interest. I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible.”
Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.
On the streets of Finland’s capital Helsinki, people said their views on NATO had changed since the war.
“Well, I believe that in this kind of political environment nowadays I believe that there is definitely strength in numbers.”
“Before the war in Ukraine, I think the most or the big portion of Finns were thinking that we don’t need NATO, that we are safe enough, we are okay without it. But I think it was quite clear when we saw the war happening that the popular opinions changed quite quickly.”
With the coming accession of Finland to NATO, Stoltenberg said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is getting the exact opposite of what he wanted.
Stoltengerg told Fox News: “He wanted less NATO. He’s getting more NATO.”
Tensions escalated further on Thursday as Russia made its first arrest of a foreign journalist since the start of the war.
Evan Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal, has been accused of spying.
The Kremlin said the American had been “caught red-handed” but presented no documentary or video evidence.
The White House condemned Russia’s actions and urged U.S. citizens living or traveling in Russia to leave immediately.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Moscow would respond to Finland becoming NATO’s member by bolstering its defenses if needed.
“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the northwest,” Grushko said in remarks carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency. “In case of deployment of forces of other NATO members on the territory of Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russia’s military security.”
