Finland and Sweden submit letters today
joining the North Atlantic Alliance .
On Wednesday, 18 May, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg received in Brussels the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden and their applications for membership. Allies in the Alliance.
On the eve of the decision to join NATO, the Finnish Parliament approved 188 votes in favor and 8 against, and was approved by the government and President Sauli Niiniste.
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Also on Tuesday, Sweden's application for membership in the alliance was signed by the country's Foreign Minister Ann Linde.
“This is a historic moment that we must seize,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a brief ceremony in which Swedish and Finnish ambassadors to the Alliance handed in their application letters, each in a white folder embossed with the national flag.
< "I warmly welcome the request of Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners, and your membership in NATO will increase our common security," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.The Alliance believes that the accession of Finland and Sweden will significantly strengthen it in the Baltic Sea.
Applications for membership will first be considered by the NATO Council, after which the membership agreement must be ratified at the national level in all 30 countries. At the same time, on May 16, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would not agree to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
Read also: “Problems are created by Putin's plans for Finland and Sweden to join NATO
Finland and Sweden have long been synchronizing their security and defense policies. Unlike their neighbors Denmark and Norway, which are members of NATO, Sweden and Finland had to rely on themselves. When it turned out that Russia was a much more dangerous neighbor than it seemed, Sweden and Finland reconsidered their position on NATO. Read more in the article by Alina Gritsenko “ Finland is one step away from NATO membership: what will Russia answer “.
