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Finland becomes 31st NATO member

"We welcome Finland to the alliance," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the end of the brief ceremony

© Johanna Geron, Pool Photo via AP

BRUSSELS, April 4. /TASS/. Top NATO diplomats handed over documents on Finland joining the alliance to the US making it the bloc’s 31st member on Tuesday.

The press service of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was broadcasting the handover ceremony.

"With receipt of this document of accession, we can now declare that Finland is the 31st member of the North Atlantic treaty," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"We welcome Finland to the alliance," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the end of the brief ceremony.

In May 2022, Helsinki and Stockholm submitted their applications to join the US-led military bloc but the process was blocked by Turkey who demanded that the two countries designate Kurdish organizations as terrorist groups, extradite those suspected of terrorism or being involved in the 2016 coup d’etat to Ankara, and lift bans on weapons supplies to Turkey. Talks between Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, then Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Stoltenberg took place in Madrid on June 28, 2022. As a result, a memorandum was signed making it possible for Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

In early 2023, a major scandal erupted between Turkey and Sweden over the burning of the Quran near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. Turkish President said that following this and other anti-Turkish rallies in Stockholm, Sweden should not expect any support from Ankara for its NATO membership bid.

The issue of Sweden’s accession to NATO remains unresolved. Out of the bloc’s 30 countries, 28, with the exception of Turkey and Hungary, ratified its application. That said, the alliance has no doubt that Sweden would join NATO soon.

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