Yle News
April 1, 2023

Erdogan has signed ratification of Finland’s Nato membership

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed the Turkish parliament’s decision to ratify Finland’s Nato membership, several Turkish media outlets reported on Saturday. The president’s final decision has been published in Turkey’s official gazette.

The Turkish parliament decided late on Thursday to ratify Finland’s Nato membership. The president’s signature concludes Ankara’s drawn-out ratification of Finnish membership, which has been pending since last summer. Under Turkish law, Erdogan had up to 15 days to sign the ratification – and he waited nearly that long to sign North Macedonia’s Nato ratification in 2020.

Turkey must still deliver the document ratifying Finland’s Nato membership to Washington, DC, where the original 1947 Nato treaty is stored. Once the Turkish document is in the custody of the US State Department, Finland will be a Nato member state.

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The final formalities include an invitation to join from Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, upon which a Finnish representative – most likely Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) – will go to Washington to sign the letter.

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“If the last pieces fall into place, Finland will celebrate Easter as a new member of Nato,” Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) said in a tweet on Saturday.