Sweden and Finland should become NATO members by mid-July 2023, Jens Stoltenberg said on February 18 during the Munich Security Conference. He emphasized that this task is now being solved.
“I continue to work actively to ensure that they (Sweden and Finland. – Ed.) become members [альянса] before the Vilnius summit (July 11-12. – Ed.),” the NATO Secretary General noted.
In the middle of this month, the bloc’s Secretary General reported that the ratification of the documents required for Sweden and Finland to join NATO took place in 28 out of 30 member countries of the alliance, Turkey and Hungary did not ratify the documents. Stoltenberg announced active work on his part on this.
On February 13, German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock expressed her hope that all NATO member countries would ratify the protocol on Finland and Sweden joining the alliance in the near future. She noted that “Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO will contribute to strengthening security in the Baltic Sea region and beyond.”
On May 18 last year, these countries applied to join NATO. In June, Ankara at the Madrid summit presented 10 conditions for lifting the veto on membership in the alliance between Sweden and Finland. One of the points is a proposal to support Turkey in its fight against terrorist organizations recognized by Ankara, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
On February 1, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out Sweden’s NATO membership. The reason was the desecration of the Koran, which was carried out in Sweden by a Danish politician with the approval of the authorities. At the same time, the Turkish leader positively assessed Finland’s chances of joining the alliance, but noted that Helsinki must take an “adequate position” in order to count on Ankara’s support in this matter.
