NATO countries sign accession protocols for Sweden and Finland

First modification: 07/05/2022 – 14:53

Sweden and Finland are closer to being members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This Tuesday, July 5, in Brussels, the 30 allies of the organization formally approved the decisions of the NATO Summit in Madrid; when the organization made the historic decision to invite Russia’s neighbor Finland and Scandinavian partner Sweden to join the military alliance.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured that with “32 nations around the table we will be even stronger and our population will be even safer when we face the biggest security crisis in decades”, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine .

Stoltenberg added that it is “really a historic moment for Finland, for Sweden and for NATO, and for our shared security.” A move that will further increase Russia’s strategic isolation.

The signing of the accession protocols of these two Nordic countries now passes to each capital of the signatories so that they ratify their decision at the national level with legislative approvals.

Turkey supports entry if both Nordic countries meet the conditions

One of the member states that could pose problems in terms of parliamentary approval is Turkey, a country that had blocked the access of both states, considering them lax in dealing with organizations that Ankara describes as terrorists.

Thanks to a memorandum of understanding reached between the three: Ankara, Stockholm and Helsinki during the NATO Summit, Turkey was able to lift its veto, which has paved the way for the two Nordic states to continue on the path to becoming members of the transatlantic organization.

However, last week, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Ankara could still block the process if the two countries do not fully comply with Turkey’s demand to extradite terror suspects with links to illegal Kurdish groups or the network of terrorists. an exiled cleric accused of a failed 2016 coup in Turkey.

At a press conference, the Swedish and Finnish foreign ministers were asked about a specific list of people who would have to be extradited to Turkey, but both said that such a list was not part of the memorandum with Ankara.

The Turkish Parliament could refuse to ratify the agreement, a latent threat considering that NATO membership must be formally approved by all 30 member stateswhich gives each one a blocking right.

Faced with this process, which has turned out to be more complex than expected, Stoltenberg acknowledged the “security concerns” that Turkey raised and that “needed to be addressed (…) we did what we always do in NATO. We found common ground,” he said.

The signing of accession took place in the presence of the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Pekka Haavisto, and Sweden, Ann Linde, after both completed negotiations on Monday at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels.

But NATO’s collective defense principle will only apply to Finland and Sweden when they have become full members of the Alliance once the entire accession process has been completed.

The application for entry into NATO by two countries with a neutral tradition

Sweden and Finland, which were already NATO allies, but with a neutral tradition, especially in the rivalry between the United States and Russia, decided to reconsider their position and request entry into the Organization after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On May 15, Finland applied for membership, followed by Sweden a day later.

A month and a half later, the Finnish Foreign Minister hoped that the ratification process in the allied countries could be completed quickly and recalled two key moments: the first, that Finland has been maintaining “pragmatic cooperation” with the Organization for 30 years and the second, that in 1994 it already signed the NATO Partnership for Peace program.

Haavisto assured that his country and the Alliance have a “mutual commitment to reinforce Euro-Atlantic security”, and made it clear that Finland will contribute to “strengthening” the organization.

Along the same lines, the Swedish Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, considered that this Tuesday, July 5, is a “historic” day for both Finland and Sweden, and said that the signing is the “confirmation” of the support they received from the allied leaders at the Madrid summit. It is “an important step on our way to becoming a full member of NATO. Next will be the ratification process in each of the countries,” she indicated.

Each alliance nation has different legislative and procedural challenges to deal with and it could take several more months for the two to become official members.

Tuesday’s approval brings both nations further into the NATO fold. As close associates, they have already attended a few meetings where issues that immediately affected them were discussed. As official guests they can attend all meetings of the ambassadors, even if they do not yet have the right to vote.

With AP and EFE