Turkey and Finland Ratify NATO Membership... Sweden's Approval Deferred

Hungary Also Refuses to Ratify Finland's NATO Membership

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Turkey's ratification of Finland's North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership bill has effectively confirmed Finland's NATO accession. With NATO membership requiring unanimous approval from all member states, Finland has overcome the last obstacle, which is expected to further heighten military tensions with neighboring Russia. However, Turkey and Hungary have refused to ratify Sweden's membership, which was submitted alongside Finland's application, setting the stage for a tug-of-war between the West, Turkey, and Hungary over Sweden's future NATO membership.

According to the Associated Press on the 30th (local time), the Turkish parliament unanimously passed the ratification bill for Finland's NATO membership. This came just three days after the Hungarian parliament ratified Finland's membership. With this, Finland has received approval from all 30 NATO member countries, effectively confirming its NATO membership.

Finland applied for NATO membership together with Sweden immediately after the outbreak of the Ukraine war last year. Following their applications, NATO Western allies, including the United States and European countries, all approved the memberships, but Turkey and Hungary had delayed ratification.

While both countries have now approved Finland's membership, they continue to refuse ratification for Sweden, signaling potential future difficulties. In particular, the Turkish government has labeled Sweden as a state sponsor of terrorism, accusing it of continuing to support Kurdish military organizations within Turkey that Turkey designates as terrorist groups, and has strongly opposed Sweden's NATO membership ratification.

Hungary has also refused ratification, citing rising criticism of its authoritarian regime within Swedish political circles and accusing Sweden of leading efforts to freeze European Union (EU) subsidies to Hungary.

In response, Sweden has undertaken some constitutional amendments and strengthened anti-terrorism laws to negotiate with the two countries. NATO headquarters and Sweden reportedly hope that Sweden's NATO membership approval will be secured before the NATO summit scheduled for July this year in Vilnius, Lithuania.