US President Joe Biden spoke to Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö for just over half an hour on Friday, the White House said. While the two countries expressed their intention to join NATO, Turkey threatened to block these attempts.
The Finnish president added on Twitter that Finland has announced its next steps to join the transatlantic defense organization, adding that his country is “deeply grateful to the United States for its significant support”.
Turkey threatened to prevent Sweden and Finland from joining the Atlantic Alliance, whose members could only accept a new member unanimously.
Turkey’s stance is enough to cool the accession process of most Scandinavian countries, supported so far by the majority of NATO members, including the United States, and by Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said he was ready to take them. “Open your arms”.
After decades without military alliances, Helsinki and Stockholm officially announced their candidacy for NATO as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki stressed on Thursday that Washington will support Sweden and Finland’s applications for membership.
“Even if they are not NATO members, our military has worked together for years. We are confident that there are ways to address any concerns these two countries may have,” the spokesperson said. US Presidency USA.
The Kremlin has expressed hostility to any “NATO expansion”.
source: Noticias
