NATO MEMBERSHIP GOES FORTH: After a lot of theatrical setup and mandatory genuflecting in the Turkish general direction, president Niinistö flew to Ankara to meet with Erdogan for the two to confirm that Turkey, in its grand munificence, is indeed permitting the Finnish NATO application to proceed forth. This was greeted with delirious joy among the Finnish foreign and security policy establishment, seeing it as the long-awaited green light for the finalization of Finnish NATO membership.