Erdogan urges parliament to ratify Finland's NATO membership

This step came after Finnish President Saul Niinsto was in Ankara to meet with Erdogan, Euronews writes.

We remember that 10 months ago Finland and Sweden applied for becoming NATO members after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

“When it comes to fulfilling its promises in the trilateral memorandum of understanding, we have seen Finland take authentic and concrete steps”, Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara after his meeting with Niinsto.

With Erdogan's agreement, Finland's application can now go to the Turkish parliament, where the president's party and its allies have a majority.

Ratification is expected before Turkey holds presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for May 14th.

NATO requires the unanimous approval of its current 30 members to expand, and Turkey and Hungary have so far failed to ratify the recognition of Nordic neighbours.

Turkey's government accuses Sweden of being too soft towards groups it considers a terrorist organisation, including Kurdish groups, and has said there are fewer problems with Finland.

This sensitivity to our country's security and, given the progress that has been made in the protocol for Finland's NATO membership, we have decided to start the ratification process in our” parliament, Erdogan said on Friday.

Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed an agreement in June last year to settle disputes over the membership of Nordic states.