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President Biden hailed Finland and Sweden’s decision to join NATO as a “watershed moment in European security” and said the entry of two well-armed, resilient democracies would strengthen the Western alliance at a time of acute tensions with Russia.
Biden welcomed leaders of the Nordic nations to the White House Rose Garden and said her decision following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion Ukraine’s abandonment of a decades-old position of military non-alignment proved that a “revived NATO” could provide a powerful counterbalance to autocracy and aggression.
“As we stand together today, we reject the bloody creed that makes right and we declare a more powerful creed, all for one and one for all,” Biden said. “Because what makes NATO strong is not just our enormous military capacity, but our commitment to each other, to their values. NATO is an alliance of choice, not coercion.”
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Sweden embarked on a new path in a moment reminiscent of “the darkest days in European history”.
“I have to say that in dark times it’s great to be among close friends,” she said, highlighting the unity of European nations, which have repeatedly imposed sanctions on Russia and provided unprecedented military and humanitarian support to Ukraine since Putin’s February 2 have done. 24 attack.
Biden, who met with Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in the Oval Office before making any public remarks, did not refer to any specific security measures the United States would grant the two countries before their membership was finalized. The application period is considered particularly sensitive because the two countries are defying years of Russian threats to join NATO, but are not yet under the alliance’s security umbrella.
While Putin this week suggested a more muted response to the Nordic decision as his troops are stuck in Ukraine, other Russian officials have issued stark warnings about a possible military response, even suggesting Moscow could deploy nuclear weapons on the Baltic Sea coast. Nordic officials have said they do not expect an imminent attack from Russia, despite these threats.
Before Finland and Sweden are accepted into the 30-nation bloc, they must allay concerns from Turkey, which has accused them of being lax about what Ankara believes are militant Kurds. Turkey this week blocked initial talks on consolidating the applicants’ accession.
Niinisto said his country was holding talks with Turkey over its concerns and said he looked forward to the moment when both countries would enjoy and be bound by NATO’s core tenet, the Mutual Defense Promise known as Article 5.
“We stand ready to contribute to the security of the entire alliance,” he said.
NATO officials have said they want to complete the accession process as quickly as possible, with technical discussions potentially completed within weeks to allow each member state’s lawmakers to vote on admitting the new members. It is not clear how far this process will have progressed by the time NATO leaders meet in Madrid at the end of June.
Nearly unanimous Western support for Finland and Sweden’s accession contrasts with long-standing disagreements over Ukraine’s possible accession, which more than a decade ago said NATO would eventually join the alliance but has not yet met the membership criteria . The prospect of Ukraine joining NATO is among the issues Russia cites as a threat to its security, an idea rejected by the Alliance’s leaders.
Jim Townsend, who served as a senior Pentagon official on European defense affairs during the Obama administration, said he expects NATO will be able to negotiate a deal once Finland, Sweden or other NATO members give Turkey something make available what they believe furthers their interests, possibly in an unrelated area.
He said Turkey has objected to previous moves by NATO, including the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a Danish politician, as NATO Secretary General in 2009 over the publication of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed and other issues in a Danish newspaper have published. “They are using this NATO consensus where Turkey’s voice is as strong as that of the United States,” he said.
While experts don’t expect Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession to have a direct impact on Kiev’s fight against invading Russian forces, they say it will give European nations more reassurance as they face a possible showdown with Russia in Europe’s more ominous security environment planning – not having to guess, for example, whether the leaders of these countries would allow NATO to conduct military flights through their airspace during a crisis, or whether they would resist actions that might draw them into conflict.
Townsend pointed out that Finland engaged in repeated battles against Russia during World War II and said the two countries’ entry into NATO was a major rebuke for Putin. Faced with a radically more restless Europe, he said: “They didn’t go deeper into neutrality; They went into NATO.”
The move could give the biggest boost to the small, vulnerable Baltic states, which may soon have new treaty allies with strong militaries nearby. Both Finland and Sweden have long operated alongside NATO troops. Finland has strong artillery and is in the process of purchasing 64 F-35 stealth fighters.
The talks came just before the US Senate approved more than $40 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Biden administration would send up to $100 million worth of new military equipment from Defense Department inventories to Ukraine.
Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report.