Today, Tuesday, Finland begins a final debate in parliament regarding its accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), without waiting for Sweden, with which it submitted a membership application file last year, amid objections by Turkey to Stockholm's accession to the alliance.

Ahead of Finland's elections scheduled for next April 2, the government of outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin wants to avoid any political vacuum so that the country can quickly enter NATO once it receives the ratification of Turkey and Hungary.

Today, the Finnish parliament's 200 members begin discussions on the bill related to joining NATO, and it is expected to be voted on tomorrow.

The deputies' debate coincides with the visit of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Finland, where he will meet senior officials in the country of 5.5 million people.

Similar to what happened in a preliminary vote that took place last May, during which the vast majority of deputies supported joining the alliance (188 votes in favor), the result of the vote this time is also guaranteed in light of the near unanimity of the country's parties, even those that did not support NATO. a year ago.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO - last year - in the aftermath of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Finland expressed its keenness to join NATO with Sweden at one time, but Ankara's objections to the Stockholm file - which included a protest against the burning of the Noble Qur'an in the Swedish capital - changed the facts.

Helsinki has expressed its willingness to continue its path even if the Swedish file falters, and Stoltenberg also made it clear that the important thing is not for the two countries to enter the alliance simultaneously, but for it to be done as soon as possible.


Turkey's position

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday that his country might separate Sweden's accession from Finland's path.

Ankara asked Sweden and Finland to cooperate in several files before granting its approval for membership, especially the extradition of wanted persons from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Fethullah Gulen group, which Ankara accuses of masterminding the 2016 coup attempt.

And about the decision to enter these two countries into the ranks of NATO, it was supported by 28 of the thirty NATO members, leaving only Turkey and Hungary.

The adoption of Finnish law does not mean that Helsinki will automatically enter the alliance after Hungarian and Turkish ratification.

However, the move sets a clear timetable.

After the law is passed, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto must sign it within a maximum period of 3 months.

Niinisto has made it clear that he will sign the law as soon as it is passed, and that even if he has to wait, this will not continue until after the April 2 elections.

After that, according to NATO practice, accession documents should be sent to Washington "within a maximum of a few weeks," according to Finnish Minister of Justice Thomas Boesti.

A majority of Finns (53%) want to join NATO without waiting for Sweden, according to an opinion poll published in early February.