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Within the framework of the summit that the Transatlantic Alliance is holding in Madrid, this Wednesday, June 29, the members formalized their invitation to Helsinki and Stockholm to become members, a position that “shows that the door is still open,” said Jens Stoltenberg . The 30 members must ratify the position, something that may take a few weeks. On the other hand, the United States announced its decision to expand its military presence in six European countries and the Baltic region.
The diplomatic marathon continues in Europe. After the G7 summit in Germany, the world’s top leaders moved to Madrid for the NATO meeting, where the objective is to “transform” to face the threat posed by Russia.
The second day featured bombastic news such as the formal invitation to Finland and Sweden to become members of the Transatlantic Alliance, something that must be ratified by the 30 members and that may take a moderate amount of time.
“Today the leaders made the historic decision to invite Sweden and Finland to become members,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced at a news conference.
The Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson admitted to being “very happy” after having reached an agreement with Turkey -repealing the embargo on the shipment of arms- last Tuesday to advance in the process of entering the intercontinental bloc. “Today is an important, historic day,” she qualified.
The deal came after Turkey “paved the way” by raising its opposition over differences with the two Nordic countries for apparently backing Syria’s Kurdish YPG militias. In exchange, he requested the extradition of 33 people, something that was rejected by Stockholm and Helsinki.
Reactions in Russia were not long in coming after the statement on the progress of the Nordic nations towards NATO. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov called this “particularly destabilizing.”
“Our position is known, it does not change, we consider the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance as a particularly destabilizing factor at the international level,” he added.
Finally, Riabkov stressed that the entry of Sweden and Finland “does not add security to those who expand, to those who join or to those who see the Alliance as a threat.” “His course is irresponsible and destroys the architecture of European security,” he closed.
News in development…
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