Finland and Sweden could jointly decide on NATO ties
Finland and Sweden can decide together whether they will join NATO or not after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.
Russia’s offensive, which is called a “special operation”, has forced Sweden and Finland to investigate whether their long-standing military neutrality is still the best way to ensure national security. “Now that Sweden has decided to advance its own parliamentary process, it is possible that the decisions on accession, if they are made, will take place on the same days or at least within the same weeks,” Haavisto told reporters. on media reports on Monday about the time of the move.
He did not give a fixed date for the decisions, citing a need to leave time for the parliaments of the two Nordic countries to discuss the issue. Stockholm is conducting a review of security policy, which includes a position on a possible NATO membership, with the results in mid-May. Its eastern neighbor Finland has said it plans to decide whether to apply to join the alliance “within a few weeks”.
Russia, with which Finland shares a border of 1,300 km (810 km) and a history of conflicts before 1945, has warned that it will deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave on the Baltic coast if Finland and Sweden decide to join the US-led NATO alliance. Haavisto acknowledged that submitting a membership application would not in itself bring the two Nordic countries under the umbrella of NATO Article 5, which guarantees that an attack on an ally is an attack on everyone.
“But at the same time, NATO member countries have an interest in ensuring that no security breaches occur during the application period,” Haavisto said. Finland has held talks with various NATO member countries on improved joint exercises that can increase the country’s security during the interim period, Haavisto added.
On Monday, three NATO warships arrived in the southwestern Finnish port of Turku to train with the Finnish fleet.
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