Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday gave the green light to Finland's entry into NATO, submitting to the Turkish parliament the ratification of Finland's membership application. A decision immediately welcomed by the Atlantic Alliance.

"We have decided to start the process of Finland's accession to NATO in our parliament," he said after a meeting in Ankara with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö.

The Turkish President's announcement further paves the way for the Nordic country to join the Alliance, as twenty-eight of its thirty member states have already approved its candidacy. In the context of the war in Ukraine, the announcement is strategic: Finland, subject to forced neutrality by Moscow at the end of its armed conflict with the Soviet Union – during the Second World War – shares the longest European border with Russia, behind Ukraine (1,340 km).

Hungary must also ratify Finnish and Swedish membership applications, submitted jointly last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. These applications require unanimous approval. After the Turkish green light, the spokesman of the Hungarian government announced on Friday that the Hungarian Parliament will vote on Finnish accession on March 27.

"Very important for Finland"

"We hope that the (Turkish) Parliament will have time," declared the Finnish president, judging the NATO entry process "very important for Finland".

"I hope (ratification) will take place before the elections," Turkish President Erdogan replied. Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 14, but the Turkish parliament is expected to suspend its work about a month before the double vote.

The Finnish President did however believe that "Finland's candidacy is not complete without Sweden's."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg "welcomed" the announcement made by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He said that "the most important thing is that Finland and Sweden quickly become full members of NATO, not that they join exactly at the same time."

The Swedish case

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been blocking the entry into the Atlantic Alliance of the Nordic country and, even more, of its Swedish neighbor. The situation is therefore more delicate for Sweden, which still faces Ankara's objections.

Turkey accuses Stockholm of passivity in the face of Kurdish "terrorists" who have taken refuge in Sweden, demanding extraditions on which the government does not have the last word.

The Turkish head of state, who continues to block the Swedish candidacy, acknowledged the "concrete measures" taken by Finland in recent months, but "no positive steps taken by Sweden with regard to the list of terrorists," he lamented Friday, referring to more than 120 requests for extraditions made by Ankara.

>> Read: NATO: who are the "terrorists" claimed by Turkey from Finland and Sweden?

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström soon regretted that his country was still waiting for Turkey's green light, but said Sweden was "prepared" for Finland to get it before it.

The burning of a Koran by an extremist in the Swedish capital in January led to the suspension of talks between Ankara, Helsinki and Stockholm. The Turkish president then hinted that Turkey was ready to ratify Finland's accession separately, whereas the two countries originally wanted to move forward "hand in hand".

>> See also: Finland and Sweden join NATO: the two countries will remain united

On Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson acknowledged that the likelihood of his neighbor joining NATO before Sweden had "increased" recently. The Swedish Prime Minister, however, remains hopeful of completing his country's entry into the Alliance before the next NATO summit scheduled for July in Vilnius, Lithuania.

With AFP

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