Finland, Sweden intensifies efforts to join NATO
Finland, Sweden intensifies efforts to join NATO
Brussels, 9 April (UNI) In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden have stepped up their efforts to join NATO. CNN quoted NATO officials as saying that discussions about Sweden and Finland joining the bloc have become extremely serious since Russia’s invasion. The topic was discussed during this week’s NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting, US State Department officials. These meetings were held in the midst of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that NATO stop expanding in the east and bring in new members. He also accused the bloc of threatening Russia’s security. When Finland spoke of Finland joining NATO, the former prime minister said the accession “was largely a clear settlement on February 24, when Russia invaded.” “If you look at public opinion in Finland and Sweden, and how their opinions have changed dramatically in the last six weeks, I think it’s another example of how this has been a strategic failure,” said a senior official in the US State Department. On Friday, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin confirmed that her country’s parliament would discuss possible NATO membership “in the coming weeks” and hopefully the discussions would end “before midsummer”. “I think we will have very careful discussions, but we also do not take longer than we have to in this process, because the situation is obviously very difficult,” she said. CNN quoted a Swedish official as saying that Sweden is conducting an analysis of security policy, which should be ready by the end of May, and the government is expected to announce its position after that report. On Thursday, the Kremlin warned that it would “rebalance the situation” if Sweden and Finland joined NATO. “We need to make our western flank more sophisticated when it comes to ensuring our security,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sky News. At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Sweden and Finland “can easily join this alliance if they decide to apply” because they “have worked together for many years, we know they meet NATO standards when it comes to interoperability, democratic control of the armed forces. ” UNI RNJ