Norway, Denmark and Iceland will coordinate NATO
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According to Jonas Gahr Støre, it seems clear that no ally will reject the application for membership from Finland and Sweden.
Norway, Denmark and Iceland can ratify Swedish and Finnish NATO membership on the same day, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party).
– In the Nordics, we are the only one between Denmark, Norway and Iceland that we should be out early, and preferably on the same day, Støre says to NTB.
– Then our impression is that none of NATO member countries have signaled difficulties with this. So I think it is in order for it to be a quick decision-making process, he says.
According to Støre, it seems clear that no ally will say that Finland and Sweden do not qualify for membership in NATO.
– And then there is also no upside in postponing and waiting.
It is time to wait for Finland and Sweden to apply for membership in NATO early next week. Støre reports that it is up to the countries themselves to decide whether they want to apply. But the signals Norway receives, according to him, are that it can go very fast from an application being received, until the clear signal from the alliance is given, so that the ratification process in the 30 member countries can start.
– It can happen in just a couple of weeks, says Støre.
– So I am open for us to go to the Storting and get ratified by the Norwegian side before June 17, which is the last day of this session. If not then we will be open to look at the summer weeks or the harvest. But right now we should not rule out that we can do this already in the spring, he says.