Turkey's parliament ratifies Finland's membership in NATO

Turkeys parliament on Thursday ratified Finlands application to join NATO, lifting the last hurdle in the way of the Nordic countrys long-delayed accession into the Western military alliance.All 276 lawmakers present voted unanimously in favor of Finlands bid, days after Hungarys parliament also endorsed Helsinkis accession.

Turkey's parliament on Thursday ratified Finland's application to join NATO, lifting the last hurdle in the way of the Nordic country's long-delayed accession into the Western military alliance.

All 276 lawmakers present voted unanimously in favor of Finland's bid, days after Hungary's parliament also endorsed Helsinki's accession. Alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Finland and Sweden abandoned their decades-long policy of nonalignment and applied to join the alliance. Full unanimity is required to admit new members into the 30-member alliance and Turkey and Hungary were the last two NATO members to ratify Finland's accession.

Sweden's bid to join the alliance, meanwhile, has been left hanging, with both Turkey and Hungary holding out on giving it the green light despite expressing support for NATO's expansion.