BERLIN (AP) — Finland’s government declared a “new era” is underway after announcing Sunday its intention to join NATO, while Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed hope Ukraine could win the war, as Russian military advances appear to be faltering.
Sweden also moved a step closer to applying for NATO membership after the ruling Social Democratic party backed joining the transatlantic alliance.
In Finland, President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that their country would seek NATO membership during a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. The previously neutral Nordic country shares a long border with Russia.
“This is a historic day. A new era begins,” Niinisto said.
The Finnish Parliament is expected to approve the decision in the coming days. A formal application for membership will then be sent to NATO headquarters in Brussels, most likely sometime next week.
The announcement came as top diplomats from NATO’s 30 member states met in Berlin to discuss providing more support to Ukraine and moves by Finland, Sweden and others to join NATO in the face of threats from Russia.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going the way Moscow had planned,” Stoltenberg said by video link while recovering from a COVID-19 infection. “They failed to take kyiv. They are withdrawing from the outskirts of Kharkiv. Their big offensive in Donbas has stalled. Russia is not achieving its strategic goals.”
“Ukraine can win this war,” he said, adding that NATO must continue to increase its military support to the country.
Sweden has also moved to join the alliance, while Georgia’s bid is being discussed again despite dire warnings from Moscow about the consequences if its neighbor becomes part of NATO.
Nordic NATO member Norway said it strongly welcomed Finland’s decision to seek membership. Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt described the Helsinki move as “a turning point” for defense and security policies in the Nordic region.
“Finnish NATO membership will be good for Finland, good for the Nordic region and good for NATO. Finland has Norway’s full support,” Huitfeldt said in comments emailed to The Associated Press.
Huitfeldt said the Norwegian government would facilitate “quick consent for ratification by the Norwegian Parliament” for Finland’s NATO membership.
“We are now seeing unprecedented unity in NATO. With Finnish membership, we will further strengthen the Nordic flank of the military alliance,” Huitfeldt said.
Stoltenberg said he was confident that the accession process for Finland and Sweden could be speeded up in existing member states. In the meantime, the alliance would increase its presence in the Baltic region to deter Russian threats, he said.
“All allies realize the historic magnitude of the moment,” Stoltenberg added.
That sentiment was shared by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
“Sweden and Finland, if they are ready, we are ready,” he said.
But NATO member Turkey has raised concerns about the two countries coming together, claiming they support Kurdish militants Ankara considers terrorists.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984 and the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people. Turkey has also been infuriated by US support for PKK-linked Syrian Kurdish militants to fight the Islamic State group.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Berlin on Sunday that Finland and Sweden also imposed restrictions on defense sales to Turkey that he called “unacceptable.”
“It is not because we are against NATO expansion, but because we believe that countries that support terrorism and follow such policies against us should not be NATO allies,” Cavusoglu said.
However, Stoltenberg said he understands that Turkey does not aim to shut out Finland or Sweden, but rather that their concerns be addressed first.
“Turkey has made it clear that its intention is not to block membership,” he said.
However, the fact that Turkey has raised its complaints has raised concerns in Washington and Brussels that other NATO members could also use the admission process as a way to extract concessions from allies, possibly complicating and delaying the accession.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke with Cavusoglu and will see him again on the sidelines of a special UN Security Council meeting later this week in New York, declined to comment on those concerns. . But he expressed confidence that all NATO members would support the offers.
“I heard almost generally very strong support for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, if that is what they choose to do, and I am very confident that we will reach a consensus,” he said after the meeting in Berlin.
On the sidelines of the Berlin meeting, Blinken met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday to discuss the impact of the war and how to get Ukraine’s grain to international markets.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken “underscored America’s enduring commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s unprovoked war.”
Britain’s top diplomat said NATO members will also discuss security issues beyond Europe during their meeting on Sunday, a reference to growing unease among democratic nations about the rise of China.
“In addition to protecting Euro-Atlantic security, we must also be careful about Indo-Pacific security,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
The meeting follows a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast this week. Officials expressed strong support for Ukraine and warned that Russia’s blockade of grain exports from Ukrainian ports risks fueling a global food crisis.
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod has rejected suggestions that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objections could prevent the alliance from admitting new members.
“We now see a world where the number one enemy of democracy is Putin and the thought he represents,” Kofod said, adding that NATO would also support other countries, such as Georgia, that he said were being “instrumentalized.” ” for Russia. .
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Jari Tanner reported from Helsinki. Matthew Lee in Berlin and Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed to this report.
Reference-www.ctvnews.ca