the approval of Turkey, Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, now needs to complete a few technical steps in order to join the world’s most potent military alliance as the 31st member.Turkey accepts Finland’s NATO membership application

Amid the war in Russia and Ukraine, Finland and its neighbor, Sweden, decided to join NATO last May.

Ankara: Turkey ratified Finland’s membership in the US-led defence alliance on Thursday, making it the last NATO country to do so following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.After President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly endorsed the application two weeks prior, lawmakers unanimously supported the Nordic nation’s admission.

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Moments before the vote, lawmaker from the ruling party Akif Cagatay Kilic declared, “This evening, we are keeping the promises we made to Finland.”Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, now needs to complete a few technical steps in order to join the world’s most potent military alliance as the 31st member.The procedure could be finished as early as next week, according to officials.In May of last year, Finland and its neighbour Sweden decided to join NATO, ending decades of military non-alignment.

In order to demonstrate the desire of the Western world to confront Russia in the face of Europe’s most serious conflict since World War II, their applications were accepted at an alliance summit in June.The process stalled with Turkey and Hungary, but the bids still needed to be approved by the parliaments of every member.

“Ample complaints”

Sweden’s candidature was met with stiff opposition from Erdogan due to a number of ongoing disputes.

The Nordic neighbours were compelled to submit separate membership applications so that neither application would be delayed after he first indicated his more favourable stance on Finland’s membership in January.On Monday, the Hungarian parliament approved Finland’s accession to NATO. Sweden’s admission was anticipated to be approved during the current session, which ends on June 15.

However, a spokesman for Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, urged Sweden on Wednesday to “clear the air” and address “a sufficient amount of grievances” in order for the vote to proceed.

Sweden’s concern over Hungary’s rule of law has angered Orban, one of the closest allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Europe.By refusing to extradite dozens of suspects Erdogan links to a botched 2016 coup attempt and a decades-long Kurdish fight for an independent state, it has also enraged Turkey.Stockholm is still aiming to join the coalition in time for the Vilnius summit in July.According to the majority of analysts, Turkey won’t vote on Sweden’s candidature until after its general election in May.

“Reliable target” –

At the start of the Cold War era, which started right after the Allies overcame Nazi Germany, NATO was established as a counterweight to the Soviet Union.Waves of the bloc’s growth have pushed it closer and closer to Russia’s borders.

The Kremlin was furious, and tensions between Moscow and Washington were escalating as a result of NATO’s expansion into countries in east and south Europe that were formerly effectively under Moscow’s control.One of the primary justifications Putin gave for starting the conflict 13 months ago was the possibility of NATO encroaching on Ukraine.

However, compared to what Putin had anticipated, the conflict has had the opposite geopolitical impact.With a new counteroffensive planned for the upcoming weeks or months, Ukraine is currently receiving tanks and other heavy weapons from NATO members.Finland had never seriously considered joining NATO before Putin started a war.

At first, it seemed as though the Kremlin was downplaying the significance of the bloc’s expansion to a new section of Russia’s northwest frontier. But in recent weeks, Russia has increased its diplomatic rhetoric.This week, Stockholm summoned the Russian ambassador after he claimed that if Sweden and Finland joined NATO, they would be a “legitimate target” of “retaliatory measures,” including military ones.

Putin also disclosed plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus’ neighbour last weekend.