‘Historic moment’ for Nato
Chief hails Finland and Sweden requests to join ranks
BRUSSELS: Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.
The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to Nato, set a security clock ticking. Russia, whose war on Ukraine spurred them to join the military organisation, has warned that it wouldn’t welcome such a move, and could respond.
“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join Nato. You are our closest partners,” Stoltenberg said.
“All allies agree on the importance of Nato enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”
“This is a good day at a critical moment for our security,” a beaming Stoltenberg said, as he stood alongside the two envoys, with Nato, Finnish and Swedish flags at their backs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the alliance stop expanding toward Russia’s borders, and several Nato allies, led by the United States and Britain, have signalled that they stand ready to provide security support to Finland and Sweden should he try to provoke or destabilise them during the time it takes to become full members.
The countries will only benefit from Nato’s Article 5 security guarantee – the part of the alliance’s founding treaty that pledges that any attack on one member would be considered an attack of them all – once the membership ratification process is concluded, probably in a few months.
For now though, the application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries.
That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining.
If his objections are overcome, and accession talks go as well as expected, the two could become members within a few months.
The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but Nato wants to move quickly given the threat from Russia hanging over the countries’ heads.
Canada, for example, says that it expects to ratify their accession protocol in just a few days.
Stoltenberg said that Nato allies “are determined to work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions.”