Finland to Become Thirty-First NATO Member |
Turkish lawmakers voted to approve Finland’s application (Reuters) for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), making Turkey the last alliance member to do so after Hungary’s legislature greenlit the bid earlier this week. The final steps toward joining the bloc are procedural and expected to progress quickly. Finland’s accession to NATO is a shift from decades of nonalignment (BBC) and will further isolate Russia’s access to the Baltic Sea.
Both Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance last May after Russia invaded Ukraine, but Turkey delayed their applications over concerns that the countries were supporting groups it considers to be terrorists. After Turkey’s vote this week, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Finland “stands with Sweden now and in the future and supports its application.” |
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“[Finland’s] accession would remake European security, doubling NATO’s land border with Russia and bringing the full force of the alliance to Europe’s far north,” the Washington Post’s Kareem Fahim, Emily Rauhala, and Annabelle Timsit and write.
“Sweden’s accession to Nato is far more uncertain. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, who is in the middle of a tricky presidential campaign, is under growing pressure from Nato allies to approve Sweden’s membership. Many western officials believe he will delay his decision until the alliance’s summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, in July,” the Financial Times’ Richard Milne, John Paul Rathbone, and Adam Samson write.
This In Brief looks at how NATO would change with Finland and Sweden as members.
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Trump Becomes First Former U.S. President to Be Indicted |
A New York grand jury voted yesterday (AP) to charge former President Donald Trump with a crime, a first for a former or current U.S. president. The exact charges are still sealed, but they are related to hush money that Trump allegedly paid to an adult-film star in 2016. Trump is expected to turn himself in next week, though he has denied any wrongdoing.
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Japan to Curb Exports of Semiconductor Parts |
Japan announced plans to restrict exports of twenty-three items (Nikkei) used to make semiconductors. While Tokyo did not name Beijing in the proposed rules, the move comes after the United States pressured Japan to restrict chip exports to China.
CFR’s Edward Alden discusses how new U.S. sanctions have raised the stakes in Washington’s war on Chinese technology.
UK/Pacific: The United Kingdom (UK) joined (The Guardian) the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) after nearly two years of negotiations. The deal is expected to generate more than $2 billion in revenue after ten years.
This Backgrounder explains the CPTPP trade pact.
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China Delays Deadline on $2 Billion Loan to Pakistan |
The loan was set to mature last week but will now be rolled over (Reuters) to a yet-to-be announced date as Pakistan continues to struggle with its external debt load.
Pakistan: In a victory for free speech advocates, the Lahore High Court ruled (Al Jazeera) that a colonial-era sedition law is unconstitutional. The verdict will apply nationwide unless it is overturned by the Supreme Court.
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Middle East and North Africa |
ICJ Rejects Iran’s Legal Bid to Free Up Central Bank Assets |
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said it did not have the jurisdiction (AP) to rule on whether U.S. authorities must unfreeze $2 billion in Iranian central bank reserves, though it did find that some U.S. moves to seize Iranian assets had breached a 1955 bilateral treaty.
Israel: The defense minister who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had fired on Sunday, Yoav Gallant, was still on the job (NYT) as of yesterday. The announcement of Gallant’s departure had sparked a surge in Israel’s ongoing anti-government protests.
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Moderna to Build Vaccine Factory in Kenya |
Kenyan President William Ruto announced that plans have been completed (The Standard) for the $500 million mRNA vaccine factory, which will be built in the Nairobi area. It will be the drugmaker’s first such factory outside of the United States.
U.S./Tanzania: During a visit by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the United States and Tanzania agreed to facilitate up to $500 million (Reuters) in financing to help U.S. goods and services reach Tanzania.
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Vatican Disavows Doctrine Used for Colonizing Indigenous Lands |
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Five Arrested Over Deadly Fire at Migrant Detention Center in Mexico |
Monday’s fire at a Ciudad Juárez detention center killed thirty-nine people. Authorities did not name those arrested, but said they had obtained warrants (NYT) for three government officials, two private security workers, and a migrant accused of starting the fire.
Venezuela: Authorities detained two senior officials (Bloomberg) at a state-owned metals company amid an anticorruption probe that has seen at least twenty-three people arrested in the past few weeks.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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