Today is the day! The final decision to apply for membership within NATO has been approved in Finland with a vote of 188 in favor and 8 against. Three MPs were marked as absent during the vote but are obviously not going to sway the opinion.

A fast turnover for acceptance as just this Sunday, President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland will seek to join the Nato alliance. The issue then moved to Parliament which began on Monday.

The final approval means that the official application process can be put into the process and can happen as soon as later today. A total of 212 speeches were made to Parliament during the 14-hour plenary session that preceded the vote.