NATO officials and representatives from Finland and Sweden are leading negotiations for the two Nordic countries to join the organization at the Atlantic Alliance headquarters in Brussels this Monday, a mere procedure after Turkey lifted its veto on Hensinki and Stockholm joining.
The accession negotiations aim to confirm the two countries’ ability to fulfill the military, political and legal obligations and obligations of membership in the transatlantic organization.
With Finland and Sweden being established democracies with modern militaries used to working closely with NATO, Monday’s talks in Brussels are a mere formality.
On Tuesday, the NATO ambassadors of the current 30 alliance states will sign the accession protocols of the two Nordic states.
Finland and Sweden are not expected to sign these accession protocols, but their foreign ministers, Finland’s Pekka Haavisto and Sweden’s Ann Linde, will be present at NATO headquarters on Tuesday and hold a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg .
Once the accession protocols are signed, they must be ratified at the national level in the 30 current members of the transatlantic organization.
The procedures for ratifying accession protocols vary from country to country. While the United States requires twothirds approval of the Senate, the United Kingdom does not require a formal vote in Parliament.
NATO’s principle of collective defence, according to which an attack on one ally is an attack on all and a common response must be given, will only apply to Finland and Sweden once these countries become full members of the alliance. The entire accession process is complete.
The war in Ukraine prompted traditionally neutral Finland and Sweden to bid for NATO membership, a process that proved more complex than expected after Turkey blocked the two states’ accession, claiming it was lax about it organizations that Ankara calls terrorists.
However, Ankara, Stockholm and Helsinki reached an agreement last Tuesday that lifts Turkey’s veto and paves the way for the two Nordic countries’ membership of the transatlantic organization.