EXCLUSIVE Allies to approve Finland and Sweden NATO bid and offer security, diplomats say

National flags of NATO members are seen, on the day of a meeting of foreign ministers amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) – NATO allies expect Finland and Sweden to apply to join the alliance in the coming days and be granted membership quickly, five diplomats and officials said, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forces a radical rethinking of European security.

During the year of ratification of their membership, the allies would provide a larger troop presence in the Nordic region, conduct more military exercises and naval patrols in the Baltic Sea and possibly rotate US and British forces through Finland and Sweden, they said.

Finland and Sweden would not benefit from NATO’s collective defense clause – that an attack on one ally is an attack on all – until the parliaments of the 30 member states have ratified the decision.

In the wider Nordic region, Norway, Denmark and the three Baltic states are already members of NATO.

President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, which shares a 1,300 km (810 mile) border with Russia, will announce his position on Thursday, a move that will be seen as official confirmation of Helsinki’s decision to join.

Sweden’s Social Democratic rulers are expected to decide on Sunday whether to reverse decades of opposition to NATO membership. Sweden’s parliament is conducting a parallel cross-party review of security policy due to be published on Friday.

“Yes and yes: they will apply and they will be granted membership,” said a senior diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, about how the two Nordic nations will act.

‘BLESSED MOMENT’

“If not now, then when?” a second diplomat said, citing not only the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, but also the fact that Moscow has had to send so many troops to its southern neighbor as part of its “special operation” to disarm it.

A third NATO diplomat agreed: “It is a blessed time. Russia is not in a position to attack (Nordic nations).”

However, the envoys said that Moscow could announce that it was moving missiles and other weapons and armor closer to its border with Finland.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday declined to comment on Russia’s possible reaction.

“Of course, we are watching most closely everything that is connected with actions that are capable of somehow changing the configuration of the alliance near our borders,” he said. “This is a subject for very, very careful analysis. For now, we can’t say anything more.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, visiting Sweden and Finland on Wednesday, said he had reached new agreements with both nations to bolster European security and vowed to support their armed forces if they came under attack. read more

Johnson also reiterated that NATO is a defensive alliance that does not threaten other countries.

Russia strongly disagrees and sees NATO enlargement as a direct threat to its own security. She has cited the issue as a reason for her actions in Ukraine, which also aspires to join the alliance one day.

Sweden recently sought assurances from the United States that Washington would tighten its security in the event of Russian retaliation. The US mission in NATO declined to comment directly.

“We are confident that we could find ways to address any concerns that either country may have about the time period between applying for NATO membership and their possible accession to the Alliance,” said Jeff Adler, spokesman for the US Mission. .to NATO.

Diplomats and alliance officials said Sweden and Finland’s membership bids would likely be approved either on or before a planned NATO summit in Madrid on June 28-30.

“There is no exact timetable. We will not wait for the Madrid summit if it can be approved earlier,” a NATO official said.

Some diplomats had hoped that Finland and Sweden would apply for membership a few weeks before the Madrid summit to allow approval at the summit, which will be attended by all allied leaders, including US President Joe Biden.

That would be full of symbolism for NATO. It was at an allied summit in Madrid in 1997 that Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic were invited to join, in the first of several waves of NATO expansion eastward.

Edited by Gareth Jones

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