Sweden today signed its application to join NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), relinquishing its historic status of military neutrality between the West and Russia.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, “I signed a historic letter of appointment from the Swedish government to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Our NATO candidacy is now officially signed.” said.
According to the chancellor, the Swedish candidacy should be sent along with Finland’s candidacy in the next few days. “We don’t know how long it will take [o processo de adesão]However, we estimate that this may take up to a year,” he said.
Yesterday, Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson had already confirmed that she would seek the country’s participation in the Euro-Atlantic alliance to “guarantee the security of the Swedish people” following the Finnish example.
The two Scandinavian countries are members of the European Union, but historically they have remained neutral between the West and Russia.
However, the invasion of Ukraine made them reconsider their neutral status, especially Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russian territory.
Sweden was quieter, but Finland’s accession would make it the only Baltic Sea country outside of NATO.
To join the organization, the two countries need the unanimous approval of their member states, and the only country that publicly opposes this is Turkey, which both accuses them of harboring so-called Kurdish “terrorists”.
However, other members of the alliance have already expressed confidence that they can persuade Ankara not to veto Finland and Sweden.
“I have heard reasonable words from Turkey in recent days, open to dialogue,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he did not see the entry of the two Scandinavian countries into NATO as a “threat”, but warned that Moscow’s response would depend on the alliance’s military presence on Swedish and Finnish soil.
source: Noticias
