Finland Joins NATO, Russia purchase weapons from North Korea, Austrian Lawmakers walk out of Zelensky, Trump Indicted [ENG/UA]

Finland Joins NATO

Finland is about to become NATO's 31st member state after the Turkish parliament gave final approval to its application late on Thursday night. It's a big moment for Finland and NATO bringing an end to a drawn out process that began in May 2022, when Finland broke with decades of military neutrality and applied to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine. But neighboring Sweden is for now still being left out in the cold, with both Hungary and Turkey still holding out on giving approval. So what comes next for Finland? Well, for starters, it's cleared the final hurdle, but it's not technically a NATO member just yet. There's a couple more procedural steps that will happen over the coming days. Now that Turkey's Grand National Assembly approved Finland's application in a 276 to 0 vote. The bill must be signed by President Erdogan, who under Turkish law has 14 days to do so. Turkey will then notify the US government, which is the depository of the Washington Treaty, that it accepts Finland as a new member, after which the Secretary general will then invite Finland to accede to the treaty and become a fully fledged NATO member.

Even before joining NATO, Finland did cooperate with the alliance and obviously maintained close relations with its members. Official NATO membership means that Finland is now covered by Article five and NATO's collective defense policy. This means that an attack on Finland is considered an attack on all NATO allies, and Finland would consider an attack on a fellow NATO ally to be an attack on itself. Finland's accession also means that NATO's border with Russia just grew a significant amount, as Finland and Russia share a frontier stretching more than 1300km. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto thanked NATO's 30 members for their support and promised to be a strong and capable ally committed to the security of the alliance. When Turkey's President Erdogan voiced his approval for Finland's NATO bid earlier this month, he praised the country's authentic and concrete steps on addressing Turkey's security concerns. But Turkey and Hungary are still holding Sweden back. Turkey say Sweden still hasn't sufficiently dealt with its purported concerns about Kurdish militants and anti-Islam incidents. There is speculation that Erdogan is withholding support for domestic political advantage ahead of a crucial election in May and could drop his opposition afterwards. Regardless, Finland's accession means Sweden is now entirely surrounded by NATO members, which will help alleviate some security concerns that Sweden might have. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said last night that Finland, now and in the future stands with Sweden and supports its application.

Russia purchase weapons from North Korea

In another major development in the war in Ukraine, Washington appears to believe that Russia is attempting to purchase weapons from North Korea in exchange for food. Experts on the East Asian country believe it's in the worst position it's been in during Kim Jong un's 11 year reign. As such, it's in desperate need of international aid, especially food. On the other side of the deal, Russia appears to be struggling to get its hands on equipment following Western sanctions. As such, it appears to be turning to rogue nations for aid. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that as part of the proposed deal, Russia would receive over two dozen kinds of weapons and amunition from Pyongyang. The fact that this has been made public by the Biden administration is part of a wider push to make intelligence findings more transparent.

Austrian Lawmakers walk out of Zelensky

Far right lawmakers in Austria's parliament protested and walked out of a virtual speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the speech violated Austria's principle of neutrality. Zelensky addressed Austria's parliament on the 400th day of the Russian invasion and thanked Austria for its humanitarian aid and assistance with things like clearing landmines. Austria's statements of support for Ukraine, its humanitarian assistance but lack of military assistance reflects the country's policy of permanent neutrality. But for the far right Freedom Party, or FPO, which has been criticized for its historic pro-Russian stance, even Zelensky's speech was too far. They walked out of the chamber and left signs in their plays saying Space for neutrality and space for peace. The FPO is the third largest party in parliament and currently leads in opinion polls.

Trump Indicted

In some very hotly anticipated news today, former President Donald Trump has finally been indicted for his hush money payments to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. Mr. Trump becomes the first serving or former president to face criminal charges following the decision of a manhattan grand jury to indict him. For his part, Trump denies any wrongdoing. Manhattan's District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed that he had contacted Trump's attorney in order to coordinate his surrender. As things stand, it's expected that the former president, who currently resides in Florida, will fly to New York on Monday so he can be arraigned in court on Tuesday. The charges against him will then be read and he'll have his mugshot and fingerprints taken. He will then likely be released on bail.