Finland parliament to hold vote on adopting NATO treaty amidst pending approval from Hungary, Turkey

The Finnish government said that it has asked its parliament to hold a vote on adopting the NATO alliance’s founding treaty. The vote comes amidst the country’s bid for membership is still pending ratification by the parliaments of Hungary and Turkey.

The Finnish government said Monday that it has asked its parliament to vote on formally adopting the NATO alliance’s founding treaty to prepare the country for membership in the alliance once its bids are ratified by the parliaments of Hungary and Turkey. In a news conference, Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto said the country’s membership is important not only for the Finnish people but also for NATO.

Finland and Sweden both filed a joint membership bid for the NATO alliance as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the applications of both countries are subject to the approval of all 30 countries, and 28 have already approved their membership.

Hungary has said it expects to ratify the membership in February. However, Turkey has accused the two Nordic countries of harboring militants it has outlawed, and Ankara said that more must be done before Finland and Sweden’s applications could be approved by the Turkish parliament.

Back in May, 188 out of 200 members of the Turkish parliament voted in favor of the two countries’ applications, with eight votes against.

The Finnish foreign ministry said that only a simple majority in the Finnish parliament approves the NATO treaty as it does not require any immediate changes to Finland’s existing legislation and powers to determine foreign and security policy.

Back in November, Swedish foreign affairs minister Tobias Billstrom said that the two countries have made progress in their agreement with Turkey on their applications to the NATO alliance. Billstrom’s comments came ahead of the NATO foreign ministerial meeting in Bucharest, Romania.

“We had a very good bilateral yesterday between Sweden, Finland, and Turkey and I felt after this meeting that there is progress. We are moving forward,” said Billstrom.

NATO allies also offered help to Georgia, Moldova, and Bosnia, neighboring countries that fear destabilization from the ongoing war in Ukraine.