NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finland's inclusion in the military alliance, saying it will make NATO stronger and Finland safer.
The Turkish Grand National Assembly recently voted to favor Finland's application to join NATO, making Finland the 30th member.
Stoltenberg said that all 30 NATO allies had ratified the accession protocol and congratulated Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on the occasion.
- Sweden has also applied to join NATO, and Stoltenberg hopes Sweden will become a full NATO member soon.
- All NATO members, except for Turkey and Hungary, had welcomed the applications by Finland and Sweden.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Finland and Sweden of housing Kurdish "terrorist organizations" but later softened his stance on Finland's accession.
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Finland and Sweden were disseminating "outright lies" about his country's rule of law record.
Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs said Sweden's bid to join NATO would only be approved after addressing grievances.
- Sweden and Finland submitted their applications to join NATO in May 2022.
