Following a meeting with the Finnish leader and his Swedish counterpart, President Biden stressed that both countries fulfill all criteria
to join the defensive alliance. His administration will also present to the Congress the reports on the accession of Sweden and Finland. The green light from American elected officials should be a formality, as the political class is almost unanimous.
Pending the end of the process, Washington has indicated that the two candidate countries already benefit from American military protection, without giving the exact outlines.
While their applications for membership in theNATO are being considered, the United States will work with Finland and Sweden to remain vigilant to any threat to our common security, and to deter and respond to any aggression or threat of aggression
Joe Biden said on Wednesday.
A majority of senators voted in favor of an additional $40 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Photo: Getty Images/Joshua Roberts
A majority of American senators voted in favor of a colossal envelope of 40 billion dollars to help Ukraine, an illustration of the unwavering support promised by Joe Biden to kyiv.
Within this large aid package: six billion dollars which should enable Ukraine to equip itself with armored vehicles and strengthen its anti-aircraft defense at a time when fighting is raging in the east and south of the country.
Nearly nine billion dollars are also planned to ensure, among other things, the continuity of Ukrainian democratic institutions
as well as a broad humanitarian component.
In mid-March, Congress had already released nearly 14 billion dollars for the Ukrainian crisis.
Stoltenberg believes he can resolve the impasse with Turkey
Just like Joe Biden, the secretary general of theNATO, Jens Stoltenberg, is in favor of Sweden and Finland joining his organization. However, a dissonant voice has emerged in recent days, that of Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who surprised everyone last week by suddenly threatening to block the entry of these two countries into the alliance, said again resolved
Thursday to counter their membership.
When an important ally like Turkey raises security concerns, raises questions, then yes, obviously the only way to settle them is to sit down [autour d’une table] in order to find […] an agreement to move forward
said the senior official.
Ankara accuses Sweden of being the nursery of terrorist organizations
such as the PKK, a Kurdish organization, and criticizes these two Nordic countries for not responding to requests for the extradition of people accused of being terrorists, as well as for having frozen arms exports to Turkey.
” We have a long historyNATO to overcome our differences and come to an agreement. I am absolutely certain that we will be able to reach an agreement on this issue. »
Mr. Stoltenberg reaffirmed his trust
in one quick decision
to welcome Sweden and Finland, which want to place themselves under the umbrella of the Atlantic Alliance, a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Turkey’s irritation also relates to the support of certain states for the YPG, a Kurdish armed group. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, but also by the United States and the European Union. On the other hand, the YPG fought the jihadists of the armed group Islamic State, alongside the United States in particular.
Meeting in Brussels on Wednesday morning for the official presentation of the Swedish and Finnish candidacies, the ambassadors of the countries of the alliance failed to agree on the immediate opening of accession discussions, due to the Turkish opposition.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca