Finnish parliament passes Nato bill

Finland’s parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed its bid to join Nato, the assembly’s speaker said. Approval of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s treaties and Finland’s accession passed with 184 members of the 200-seat parliament voting in favour, seven against and one abstaining.

In response to Russia’s war on Ukraine a year ago, Finland last May applied to join Nato, having until now relied solely on its own armed forces to defend the 1,300-km border it shares with Russia. New Nato entrants must be approved by all existing members of the Western military alliance.