Finland and Sweden will jointly submit their candidacy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday, 18th – the two Scandinavian countries announced on Tuesday, despite Turkey’s threat of a blockade.
Everything is ready for the membership applications of both countries to be submitted simultaneously at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels, with the approval of an overwhelming majority of more than 95% of the Finnish Parliament.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced that she will pay an official visit to Stockholm with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.
“I’m glad we chose the same path and were able to do it together,” he said.
According to the White House statement, the Scandinavian duo will travel to Washington on Thursday 19 to meet with US President Joe Biden.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared silent on Monday about possible retaliation for Finland-Sweden integration, the main obstacle now appears to come from within the Alliance.
Turkey, which has to be ratified like the other 30 NATO members, reiterated its hostility towards Swedish and Finnish entry yesterday, despite diplomatic talks over the weekend.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Sweden of being a “home to terrorist organizations” and imposing sanctions on his country, saying Ankara “will not give up”.
Analysts believe Turkey is seeking advantages in exchange for authorization, such as removing the US’ refusal to sell it F-35 fighter jets.
Ankara criticizes Sweden and Finland for not approving the extradition requests of those it accuses of being members of “terrorist organizations” such as the Kurdish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or exporting frozen weapons to Turkey.
“Optimistic”
Despite these controversies, the Finnish president said he was “optimistic” about gaining Turkey’s support through “constructive discussions”.
Andersson said that “Sweden wants to work with Turkey in NATO and this cooperation could be an element of our bilateral relationship” and added that Stockholm is “determined to fight against all forms of terrorism”.
“We are confident in our ability to maintain consensus in favor of membership within the alliance,” said Ned Price, spokesman for the US diplomat.
Price assured the press in Washington that this sentiment “has not changed” despite the Turkish president’s statements.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in New York on Wednesday.
The nominations of Finland and Sweden, a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, advanced this Tuesday. At the end of the two-day parliamentary session, the accession bill was passed by the Finnish Parliament with 188 votes in favour, eight against and abstentions.
“This is an outstanding result, I didn’t expect it to be so clear. The vote is open, no further discussion,” Finnish Chancellor Pekka Haavisto said before signing her country’s nomination form.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde signed Sweden’s application form at a ceremony this morning.
After a change in favor of accession, Sweden and Finland consider it necessary to bring themselves under the umbrella of NATO in the face of a Russia that might invade one of its neighbors militarily.
However, decades of neutrality and military discord were to turn the page as the two countries sought security guarantees from their Northern neighbors and main NATO powers in recent weeks. Only Alliance members benefit from the famous Article 5 of mutual protection, not candidates.
In this regard, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured that his country would “intensify” military cooperation with the two Scandinavian countries.
France assured it would “stand by Finland and Sweden” in the event of aggression.
“Any state that wishes to test its European solidarity through any threat to its sovereignty or aggression, must be assured that France will stand by Finland and Sweden,” the French Presidency said in a statement. Press briefing
In general, joining NATO takes several months. Sweden said it expects the process to take at most a year.
source: Noticias
