Stoltenberg: Finland joins NATO on Tuesday

Finland joins NATO on Tuesday 4 April. This was announced by the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg: "It is a historic week: tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st ally, we will raise the Finnish flag for the first time and it will be a good day for everyone's safety." A step that arrived thanks to the vote of Turkey which on Thursday 30 March had ratified membership, despite having opposed this operation for several months. Moscow has responded by increasing its military capabilities on the western and north-western fronts. The Turkish parliament has ratified the protocols of Finland's accession to NATO.

Anadolu makes it known. After the Hungarian parliament approved Helsinki's entry on March 27, with today's vote Turkey is the last NATO member to give the green light for Finland to join the Atlantic Alliance. However, Ankara has not yet approved Stockholm's accession and is asking Sweden to extradite militants believed to be terrorists to start the ratification process.

After a brief debate, during which they acknowledged Finland's "legitimate security concerns", Turkish MPs voted unanimously of the 276 MPs present to allow the small Nordic country to join the Atlantic Alliance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced the revocation of the veto on March 17, receiving his Finnish colleague Sauli Niinistö in Ankara.