NATO has begun the process of ratifying the accession of Finland and Sweden. Ambassadors from the 30 NATO countries signed the two countries’ accession protocols in Brussels on Tuesday. “This is a good day for Finland and Sweden and a good day for NATO,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Sweden and Finland applied for membership as a reaction to the Ukraine war after decades of military alliance neutrality.
Now, the two EU countries’ membership still needs to be approved by NATO’s 30 members. “With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger and our citizens even safer as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” said Stoltenberg.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde thanked NATO countries for their “strong support” regarding her country’s application for membership. “We are convinced that our membership will strengthen NATO and contribute to stability in the Euro-Atlantic area,” she added. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said he expected rapid ratification by NATO members. The process could drag on for months, even if the German government wants to act quickly.
Finland and Sweden broke with their traditional military neutrality in May over the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and applied for NATO membership. NATO began admitting Finland and Sweden to the military alliance last week at the Madrid summit. Just before the meeting began, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his week-long opposition to the two EU countries joining the alliance. In a tri-national agreement, Sweden and Finland responded to Turkey’s core demands, according to Ankara.
Among other things, Turkey is demanding the extradition of alleged members of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the movement of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for the 2016 coup attempt. end of June that Turkey can still withdraw its approval. “If they do their duty, we will present (the deal) to Parliament,” he said. “If they don’t, there’s no question of sending it to Parliament.”