The Finnish government is waiting for a “green light” from Recep Tayyip Erdogan today Friday, as the Turkish president’s official visit to Helsinki will be focused on the Nordic country’s request to join NATO.

Finnish President Sauli Niiniste said on Thursday that he expects Ankara’s final approval for his country’s admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the talks he will have with his Turkish counterpart.

Finland is thus on track to become a NATO member state before Sweden, even though their applications were submitted at the same time, ten months ago, as the Turkish parliament is expected to ratify the protocol for that country before the May 14 elections.

To date, the application for the two states to join the military alliance has been approved by its 28 member states, and the approval of Hungary and Turkey remains.

Budapest is expected to get the green light soon. But the Ankara is considered a major obstacle, as the Turkish government accuses Stockholm and Helsinki of not helping to fight “terrorist organizations”, which is particularly concerning to Sweden.

Mr. Erdogan promised yesterday in Ankara that his government “will keep the promise it made” regarding Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic alliance. However, it has not yet become clear when the approval of the two states will begin to be discussed in the Turkish parliament.