Getting closer

Turkey’s Erdogan is expected to give the green light to Finland’s application to NATO. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Turkey is set to approve Finland’s NATO entry bid today, a step toward transforming Europe’s security landscape further as Moscow’s war in Ukraine rages to the east. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Ankara to green-light the Nordic country’s application to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Key reading: - [How Russia Pushed Finland and Sweden Toward NATO]( - [Turkey Set to Allow Finnish NATO Entry as Erdogan Meets Niinisto]( - [US Urges Turkey to Ratify NATO Enlargement as Hungary Delays]( - [Finland Says It’s Ready to Join NATO Even Without Sweden]( That would leave Hungary as the last hold out to an accession which would enable the alliance to start securing the area around the Baltic Sea in defense of its Baltic members, often seen as potential targets of Russian aggression. But Turkey isn’t set to also approve Sweden’s NATO entry. If Finland enters alone, that could slow momentum for Sweden’s bid and complicate the alliance’s planning further down the road. Erdogan has criticized Sweden’s stance toward Kurdish militants, which Turkey sees as terrorists. His tougher approach toward Sweden may help to garner support from conservative and nationalist voters as he faces elections in May. Still, including Finland would double the length of NATO’s border with Russia, which now comprises just 6% of Russia’s land perimeter. It would also mean NATO could improve surveillance of Russia’s western flank with the help of Finland’s well-trained military. By approving Finland’s entry into the alliance after months of negotiations, Erdogan is once again showing his ability to shape events far beyond Turkey’s borders. — [Sylvia Westall]( Erdogan at the NATO summit in Madrid in June 2022. Photographer: Valeria Mongelli/Bloomberg Coming Soon: Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. [Sign up now for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter](, delivered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. [Click here]( for this week’s most compelling political images. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines Russia bound | Chinese President Xi Jinping will [travel]( to Russia on Monday, the most prominent leader to visit since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Xi’s trip follows China’s release of a blueprint for any talks aimed at ending the war, a proposal widely dismissed by Ukraine’s backers and met with caution even in Moscow. Xi plans to hold his first call soon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since the war broke out. - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang [spoke]( with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba yesterday about bilateral ties and Russia’s invasion. - Follow our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine [here](. French impasse | President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force through his contentious pension reform without seeking a vote in parliament shows that his government didn’t think it had the support for it to pass. With workers up in arms at the increase in the minimum retirement age it contains, the rest of Macron’s agenda including employment reform may now be [dead]( in the water. - Unions are calling a new nationwide [day of strikes]( and protests on March 23. Britain is the middle of a silent post-Covid [health epidemic]( that’s costing taxpayers $14.5 billion a year more than expected in higher welfare payments, according to the government’s spending watchdog. With state spending as a share of the economy already at historic highs, the surge in health-related claims piles even more pressure on taxpayers and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Creaky system | Banks in the US borrowed a combined $164.8 billion from two Federal Reserve backstop facilities in the past week. Taken together, the credit put the spotlight on a banking system that is [still fragile]( and dealing with an outflow of deposits in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank of California and Signature Bank of New York last week. - US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon were the [driving forces]( behind the decision by 11 of the largest US lenders to deposit $30 billion to backstop the distressed First Republic Bank. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Another Chaotic Week Signals End of Economic Era: Authers & Lee]( - [OPEC+ Isn't Panicking About Oil’s Sudden Drop - Yet: Javier Blas]( - [AI Is About to Transform Childhood. Are We Ready?: Tyler Cowen]( Drama unfolds | Former Pakistan Premier Imran Khan told Bloomberg Television that he would turn up in court tomorrow after skipping hearings, potentially [setting the scene]( for further political unrest in a country that’s at risk of a default. The former cricket star’s supporters battled with security forces outside his private residence in Lahore this week as police attempted to arrest Khan, who faces charges of failing to disclose funds received from the sale of state gifts when he was in power. - Pakistan’s government said the International Monetary Fund wants ‘friendly” countries to honor their commitments to fund the [cash-strapped country]( before it signs off on a $6.5 billion bailout program. A vehicle burns during clashes between supporters of Imran Khan and riot police near Khan’s house in Lahore on March 15. Photographer: Arif Ali/AFP/getty Images Explainers you can use - [Why India Walks a Tightrope Between US and Russia]( - [Why South Korea-Japan Ties Are Plagued by History]( - [Supreme Court Enters Crypto Era: ‘Tip of the Tip of the Iceberg’]( Buying time | Thailand is heading for elections in May after Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha issued a decree to [dissolve parliament](. The 60 days between the dissolution and the vote will give the former coup leader time to campaign and recruit members to run for his new party as he seeks to extend his military-backed rule despite widespread unpopularity. Check out our The Big Take Podcast today that explains what’s at stake as Israelis take to the streets to protest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system. [Listen in on Bloomberg](, [Apple]( and [Spotify](. News to Note - Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the Russian mercenary Wagner Group of bringing violence and instability to Africa as he ended a trip meant to reassert US [engagement]( with the continent. - Ex-President Donald Trump has defended his possession of dozens of [classified documents]( at his Mar-a-Lago home by saying he had issued a “standing order” as president that records removed from the Oval Office were instantly declassified. - Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni started a sweeping overhaul of Italy’s [byzantine tax system](, which will include a reduction in the number of income tax brackets. - Kazakhstan holds parliamentary elections on Sunday in what President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called the last stage of a [government “reset”]( in response to last year’s deadly riots sparked by fuel-prices increases. - Opposition lawmakers in Ecuador have moved forward with a second attempt to [impeach]( Guillermo Lasso, one of the few remaining market-friendly presidents in South America. Pop quiz (no cheating!) Which US political leader criticized the Biden administration for providing a virtual “blank check” to Ukraine? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... The South Korean city of Pohang, home to one of the world’s biggest steelmakers and an elite university, is betting that its manufacturing expertise and billions of dollars in investments and government incentives can help it dominate a 21st century industry: electric vehicle batteries. As [Heejin Kim]( reports, companies in the area are [aggressively building]( out EV battery campuses as carmakers hurry to find reliable alternative suppliers to the dominant global producer, China. A Posco Chemical battery pack for an electric vehicle at the InterBattery exhibition in Seoul. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Politics newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](