President seals Finland’s NATO bid by signing required laws

By JARI TANNER
Associated Press

HELSINKI (AP) — The Finnish president has formally sealed the Nordic country’s historic bid to join NATO by signing into laws the required legal amendments needed for membership in the military alliance. The president’s move Thursday means Finland is now just awaiting approval from Turkey and Hungary, the only two of NATO’s 30 existing members that haven’t ratified its bid. Admitting new members into NATO requires unanimous approval from the military alliance, and the parliaments in Ankara and Budapest haven’t yet given the green light. But in Turkey Thursday, a parliamentary committee approved Finland’s NATO application, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Finland’s application could be ratified by the full Turkish assembly as early as next week.