All eyes are on Turkey, which has objected to the two Nordic nations joining the alliance
Diplomats representing Sweden and Finland in NATO met with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday to convey their government’s requests for their countries to join the military bloc.
Axel Warnhoff of Sweden and Klaus Korhonen of Finland met together to file papers with the NATO chief. The foreign ministers of the two countries signed two letters on Tuesday.
Stoltenberg thanked the envoys for submitting the application, which he said was a historic step for the organization, adding that all members agreed. “On the importance of NATO expansion.” Secretary General mentioned, Dr. “All allies need to consider security interests” They consider bids, and that is what NATO will do “Work through all the problems and come to a quick conclusion.”
Just: “This is a good day …” #NATO Chief Stoltenberg received a letter from the Finnish Amb korhonen_klaus And Sweden NATO Amb Axel Warnhoff says to start discussions on membership Stoltenberg pointed to the roadblocks (Turkish) diagonally, saying he was confident they would be resolved. pic.twitter.com/VBNO63UIUF
– Terry Schultz (terischultz) May 18, 2022
Earlier, Turkey had publicly objected to its inclusion in NATO, accusing it of harboring terrorists and discriminating against Turkey in trade.
Turkish officials cited perceived humility towards anti-government groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Ankara considers a terrorist group, and imposed sanctions on arms exports to Turkey in 2019 in the wake of the Ankara crackdown. On Kurdish militants in Syria.
The NATO chief has previously confirmed that Turkey’s problems with the applicants will be resolved quickly and will not hinder their accession. The new NATO members must be approved unanimously so that Turkey can decide to refuse admission to Sweden and Finland.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Stockholm and Helsinki broke their tradition of non-alignment and sought membership in the US-led military. Moscow has said it will make the necessary preparations for self-defense from NATO with the inclusion of two new members.
Russia invaded the neighboring country in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the first Minsk agreement, signed in 2014, and the final recognition of Moscow’s Donetsk and Lugansk’s Donbas republics. The German- and French-brokerage protocols were designed to give special status to isolated territories within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine formally declare itself a neutral state that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kyiv has insisted that the Russian invasion was completely unpopular and has denied claims that it is planning to forcibly retake the two republics.
