The government of Finland announced on Sunday his intention to enter the NATO and in Swedenthe ruling Social Democratic party, gave its go-ahead to a candidacy, paving the way for a joint application for membership.
Less than three months after the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the Helsinki announcement marks a dramatic turnaround in Finland’s more than 75-year policy of non-alignment.
“It is a historic day. A new era is beginning,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö told a joint news conference with Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
the parliament of Finland The accession project must be examined on Monday, but it is estimated that a large majority supports the initiative.
A joint application with Finland is “what is best for Sweden and its security”, said the Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersonafter the meeting in Stockholm during which his party approved the application for membership.
On Monday, the Swedish leader will go to Parliament to “secure broad parliamentary support for a candidacy for the NATO“.
Later, the Swedish government will make its decision, which would mean a change to more than 200 years of policies that have left the Scandinavian country outside military alliances, he acknowledged.
The movement caused divisions within the Social Democratic Party, where some voices denounce a hasty decision.
But if the candidacy of Sweden approved, the Social Democrats would work to express their “unilateral reservations against the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent bases on Swedish territory,” the formation said in a statement.
“On the right track”
Despite some objections expressed by Turkey, members of the NATO “They are on the right track” in the discussions to give the green light to the entry of Sweden and Finland, said Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman.
The general secretary of the NATOJens Stoltenberg, declared himself confident in resolving Turkey’s concerns and insisted that the country is not opposed to membership applications.
Ankara accuses the two Nordic countries of laxity towards the members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), at war with Turkey and which is on the list of terrorist organizations of the European Union.
The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, however, said he was willing to discuss with the two countries and with the other members of the alliance.
The leader was conciliatory on Sunday with Finland, but focused his criticism on the “provocative statements” of Sweden, with which relations have been sometimes stormy in recent years.
“We will reach consensus”
“I am confident that we will be able to find common ground, a consensus on how to move forward on accession issues,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a meeting of the NATO In Berlin.
“I am sure we will reach consensus,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, referring to Turkey. In the event of a formal request, the United States would “strongly” support the accession of these two countries.
Having broken their political neutrality in the 1990s at the end of the Cold War by becoming members of the European Union, Sweden and Finland are moving closer to the Western bloc following a shift in public opinion following the war in Ukraine.
Finland, with 1,300 km of border with Russia, was the first to take the initiative and Sweden is following suit, fearful of finding itself the only country on the shores of the Baltic Sea (with the exception of Russia) outside the alliance led by the United States.
On Saturday, the Finnish head of state called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putinto inform you of the decision made.
Putin replied that joining the NATO “It would be a mistake, since there is no threat to the security” of Finland, the Kremlin said.
Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb told the BBC that Putin was “the reason we joined” the NATO. “We could easily call it Vladimir Putin’s enlargement of NATO,” he said.
According to the latest polls, more than 75% of Finns want to join the military alliance, triple the number before the war in Ukraine.
In Sweden, support also rose but to around 50% against 20% of people against.
The NATO accession process takes several months and requires the unanimous support of the 30 members of the transatlantic alliance.
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