Updated 7/8/2022 10:44 am
- The Bundestag approved the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
- A majority of lawmakers in Berlin on Friday voted for a law that is a prerequisite for Germany’s acceptance of the relevant protocols.
Germany is one of the first countries to give the green light for two northern partners to join NATO. A majority of Bundestag lawmakers voted in Berlin on Friday for a law that is a prerequisite for Germany’s acceptance of the relevant protocols. The traffic light coalition factions of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, as well as the Union and the opposition AfD majority voted in favor. There was rejection from the left. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier issues the royal ratification document.
Lindner: Accession of Sweden and Finland “strengthens NATO’s democratic values”
Sweden and Finland’s action is a direct response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. On Tuesday, the ambassadors of the 30 states of the alliance had already signed the so-called accession protocols at the headquarters in Brussels in the presence of the foreign ministers of the two Nordic countries. So far, Canada, Estonia, Norway, Denmark and Iceland have ratified accession.
The federal government campaigned for approval at the start of the debate on Friday. “The planned membership of Finland and Sweden in the North Atlantic Defense Alliance is of utmost importance to us and our partners in view of the shocks we are experiencing in Europe and around the world as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,” he added. said Tobias Lindner (Greens), Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who spoke on behalf of the government.
In a dramatically changed security situation in Europe, this membership not only means additional security for the Nordic partners, but also an increase in the strength and cohesion of NATO as a whole, Lindner said. There is also a long partnership with both countries. Lindner: “Today we are strengthening NATO’s democratic values.” (sbi/dpa)
Updated on 7/1/2022 at 12:43 pm
Switzerland, which is very concerned about its neutrality, briefly became a candidate for membership in the military alliance at the NATO summit in Madrid: At a press conference on Thursday, US President Joe Biden described how the historic decision of admitting Finland and Sweden to NATO came about – and confused Sweden with Switzerland. The US president took his slip of the tongue with humor. (Photo: IMAGO/Future Image/IMAGO/DyD Photographers)