Reuters reports the Turkish parliament has ratified Finland joining NATO, Turkey was the last of the current member nations to do so. Sweden still has not received Turkey’s blessing, and may not.
Nevertheless, of the two, Finland is the more important. Finland shares a 830 mile border with Russia. Containing Russia (in its Soviet incarnation) was why NATO was formed.
Soon all of Russia’s border with what we think of as Western and Central Europe will be NATO members except Belarus and Ukraine from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean. And Ukraine is actively fighting off Russia.
Ironically, the only reason Finland decided to abandon neutrality and join NATO is because Putin invaded Ukraine. That act made amicable coexistence with Russia seem improbable to the Finns and Swedes.
