Reuters. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu handed Finland's NATO ratification document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (April 4) on the sidelines of the Brussels summit.
Turkey's parliament approved the bill for Finland's accession to NATO last week, clearing the way for the country to become part of the Western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine.
The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland's membership after Hungary's legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week.
Cavusoglu also met with his Finnish and Swedish counterparts to discuss bilateral relations.
President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in March that Finland had secured Turkey's blessing after taking concrete steps to keep promises to crack down on groups seen by Ankara as terrorists, and to free up defense exports.
Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia's military operations in Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary. The parliaments of all NATO members must ratify newcomers.
While Finns head into the alliance, close partner Sweden continues to wait for ratification of its NATO membership bid in the face of opposition from Turkey and Hungary.
