Turkey moves closer to ratifying Finland's accession to NATO, which will take the Alliance one step closer to admitting its 31st member as the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine spill over into the European security landscape. Bloomberg writes about it..

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets Finnish leader Sauli Niinisto in Ankara today, March 17. Erdogan says he plans to 'deliver' promise made to Finland over his NATO bid. At 16. 45 local time they will hold a joint press conference.

The likely ratification of the bid by Turkey could leave Hungary the last country to hold back Finland's entry if Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues to drag out the parliamentary vote. It also casts further doubt on Sweden's bid to join the Alliance..

The US is pushing for speedy ratification of both countries' accession, and most NATO allies want the Alliance's expansion to be completed in time for the bloc's upcoming July summit.. Hungary plans to vote on country applications in late March or early April after numerous delays.

Finland's membership will allow the Alliance to start guarding the area around the Baltic Sea to protect its Baltic members, who are often seen as potential targets of Russian aggression.. The inclusion of Finland in the Alliance will increase the length of NATO's border with Russia. It would also allow NATO to improve surveillance of Russia's western flank with the help of the well-trained Finnish military, which already uses NATO-compatible weapons..

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Earlier it was reported that Turkey resumed negotiations with Sweden and Finland regarding their entry into NATO.. Ankara agreed to negotiate terms, acknowledging that the Scandinavian countries have made some progress in meeting its terms..

Representatives of Turkey, Sweden and Finland met at NATO Headquarters on Thursday, March 9, talking about the steps that have already been taken under the tripartite Memorandum on Combating Terrorism adopted at the NATO 2022 Summit.

What did they agree on? What are the chances of Stockholm and Helsinki that the Turkish parliament will approve their applications before the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius? Or at least until the end of the year? The answers to these questions are in the article by Vladimir Kravchenko “Earthquake diplomacy: will Sweden and Finland be allowed into NATO”?