Almost all NATO member countries have ratified the protocols on the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Alliance. This statement was made by the Secretary General of the organization Jens Stoltenberg. Recall that Finland and Sweden formally applied to join the NATO alliance on May 18, 2022.
“As participating countries, you [Sweden and Finland — ed.] are currently integrating into political and military structures … Many countries have provided security guarantees to both candidates. NATO has increased its presence in the Baltic Sea region… The accession process has become the fastest in the modern history of NATO. Almost all allies have completed national procedures [ratification of accession protocols — ed.],” Stoltenberg said.
The Secretary General also stressed that NATO allies will support the Finns and Swedes if they come under pressure.
However, protocols of country’s accession to the Alliance were ratified by 28 out of 30 NATO members. Hungary and Turkey are opposed.
Recall that Turkey expects Finland to fulfill the conditions under the memorandum on joining NATO, namely the recognition of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its branches as terrorists, as well as the refusal to admit members of the PKK to parliaments and speed up the procedure of «terrorists» extradition. In addition, Turkey demanded the «immediate lifting» of sanctions against its military-industrial complex.
At the end of May, negotiations were held between the parties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was dissatisfied with the results, reproaching the countries for insincerity. In addition, the politician assured that while he holds the presidency, Ankara will not allow countries that support terrorism to join NATO.
Today, Erdogan said that the new Prime Minister of Sweden asked him for a meeting on the country’s NATO membership process.