Sweden joins Finland in NATO bid, Turkey objects membership
Sweden on Monday decided to join neighboring Finland in seeking NATO membership, ending more than two centuries of military nonalignment.
“The government has decided to inform NATO that Sweden wants to become a member of the alliance,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson reporters a day after neighboring Finland made a similar announcement. “Sweden needs formal security guarantees that come with membership in NATO,” she said, calling the decision “a historic change in our country’s security policy”.
Finland and Sweden have decided to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, breaking away from the decades-old tradition of non-alignment and neutrality.
In a historic policy shift, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin confirmed that they both favoured NATO membership. “Today, we, the president and the government’s foreign policy committee, have together decided that Finland … will apply for NATO membership,” Niinisto told reporters.
Turkey objects move
Turkey’s leader objected the move saying the two nations should not be allowed to join NATO because they have been too lax in taking action against Kurdish militants. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country will not approve Sweden and Finland’s bid to join NATO.
The Swedish ministry of foreign affairs said that senior representatives from Helsinki and Stockholm will travel “soon” to Turkey to discuss Ankara’s objections to their NATO membership. However, Erdogan said the diplomats should not bother coming to Ankara to discuss the NATO bid.
The two countries can only join NATO if all current members agree.
Nordic countries vow security assurances to Finland and Sweden
After Sweden’s announcement, Denmark, Norway and Iceland published a joint statement in which they welcomed the decision and promised support “by all means necessary” if the country is attacked between application and admission to the alliance. “Should Finland or Sweden be victims of aggression on their territory before obtaining Nato membership, we will assist Finland and Sweden by all means necessary,” the three countries said. “We immediately initiate preparations in order to effectuate these security assurances.”
NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization), was created in 1949 by 12 countries, including the U.S., Canada and other Western European countries, to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
