Finland approaches NATO membership
03:30 | On Tuesday, the Finnish parliament takes another step towards NATO membership. Members can vote to greenlight the legislation needed to join the alliance. It should be a formality, given that the majority of the parliament is in favor of membership.
The next major step will follow on March 9, when talks with Turkey resume in Brussels. Apart from Hungary, Turkey is the last country to oppose the accession of Finland and Sweden. Although Budapest is expected to agree in early March.
What Ankara will do is more unclear. It wants Sweden and Finland to extradite people Turkey considers Kurdish terrorists or involved in the 2016 coup attempt. After recent anti-Islamic protests in Sweden, Ankara has taken an even tougher stance on the Scandinavian country .
The fact that talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland will resume in March is a sign of a thaw. The question remains whether Finland and Sweden will unite or whether Finland will take the step alone.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, himself a Norwegian, is also in Helsinki on Tuesday for consultations with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Stoltenberg thinks the time has come for Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance and hopes to make a breakthrough in the coming weeks.
Bach’s situation becomes more and more difficult
02:00 | The military situation around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is becoming increasingly difficult, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as many of Ukraine’s battlefields are turning to mud. “In the Bachmut sector, the situation is getting more and more difficult,” Zelensky said in his nightly speech. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our reinforcement and defense positions.” The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near the city – the focal point of Russia’s advance into eastern Ukraine – and also shot down four Himar missiles and five drones launched by Ukrainian forces.