Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey will move forward with ratifying Finland’s NATO application, paving the way for the country to join the military bloc ahead of Sweden. This comes as Finnish President Niinistö was in Ankara to meet with Erdogan and 10 months after both Finland and Sweden applied to become NATO members in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With Erdogan’s agreement, Finland’s application can now go to the Turkish parliament, where the president’s party and its allies hold a majority. Ratification is expected before Turkey holds its presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 14 May.