News about Sauli Niinisto

Today, voters in Finland are voting for a new president as they prepare to elect a new president amid rising tensions with Russia. It's an unprecedented moment for the Nordic nation, which is not only a member of NATO, but also has its eastern boundary to Russia closed - two things that were previously unimaginable just a few years ago. Polls around the country started at 9 a.m. this morning and will close at 8 p.m. tonight.

Following a trip where President Biden vouched for the United States' contribution to the growing NATO alliance, President Biden ordered the US to deploy 3,000 reserve troops to Europe. Biden returned home from a trip to Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland, pledging to protect 'every inch' of NATO territory.

On Thursday, Turkey's parliament (left) approved a bill authorizing Finland to join NATO, paving the way for it to join the Western defense alliance as war rages in Ukraine. After Hungary's legislature passed a related bill earlier this week, Turkey was the last among the 30 NATO members to ratify Finland's membership. President Tayyip Erdogan (pictured shaking hands with Finland President Sauli Niinisto, right) said earlier this month that after taking concrete steps to crack down on groups identified as terrorists in Ankara and free up defence exports, Erdogan would have received Turkey's permission.

After joining NATO, Sweden announced today that it was summoning the Russian ambassador to Stockholm, saying the country and Finland will be "legitimate targets" of'retribution steps, including'military ones. 'The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will summon the Russian ambassador to make a strong statement against this blatant attempt at power,' Sweden's foreign minister Tobias Billstrom said. "Sweden's defense plan is determinable by Sweden, not by anybody else," he said.

President Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would accept Finland's NATO application, opening the way for the country to join the NATO bloc ahead of Sweden. The breakthrough came when Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was in Ankara to speak with Erdogan, ten months after both Finland and Sweden applied to become NATO members. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both Nordic countries have wanted to join NATO, but their requests must be approved by all 30 member states. After Hungary promised to support both this month, they now rely on votes from Turkey.