Sweden and Finland formally submitted applications to join the NATO alliance, marking one of the biggest geopolitical consequences yet of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg personally accepted the membership applications at the headquarters of the defensive military alliance in Haren, Brussels.
Stoltenberg hailed it as a “historic step” and said that he warmly welcomed the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. It was “a good day at a critical time for our safety,” he said.
Swedish Ambassador to NATO Axel Wernhoff and Finnish Ambassador to NATO Klaus Korhonen handed in the application letters for each of their respective countries, signed by their respective foreign ministers.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson are to travel to Washington, D.C. tomorrow to meet with President Joe Biden for talks on their applications and European security more broadly.
NATO ambassadors were expected to discuss the applications today, and it could begin the process of opening formal talks with each country on its request. But to join NATO, all 30 members need to give unanimous approval. Turkey has already announced it will not support the applications.
But Stoltenberg sounded hopeful, saying that all allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. He said that the security interests of all allied nations must be taken into account and therefore the bloc is determined to work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions, as they can all agree this is a historic moment that must be seized.
Accession into the bloc usually takes between eight months and one year. But threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin hang over the heads of the Nordic countries, and so the alliance has said it wants to move the process along quickly. Canada said it believes the accession protocol will be ratified within only a few days.
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