Finland must approve NATO membership, Sweden holds crucial meeting
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The Finnish government is expected to officially announce its intention to join NATO on Sunday, while Sweden’s ruling party will hold a crucial meeting that could pave the way for a joint application as the military alliance moves towards a historic expansion prompted by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Follow FRANCE 24’s live blog for the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT + 2).
08:53: Germany “prepared” for rapid ratification of Finnish, Swedish NATO messages
Germany has made all preparations for a rapid ratification process should Finland and Sweden decide to apply for NATO membership, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters on a second day of talks with her NATO counterparts in Berlin.
“Germany has prepared everything to make a rapid ratification process,” she said, adding that at a dinner on Saturday, ministers agreed that there should be no gray area between the time they apply for and the time they spend.
“If they decide to join, they can join quickly … We must ensure that we give them security guarantees, there must not be a transition period, a gray area, where their status is unclear,” she said.
She referred to the ratification period, which could take as long as a year, during which the Nordic countries will not yet be protected by NATO Article 5, which guarantees that an attack on an ally is an attack on everyone.
08:07: Sweden’s government party is ready to support NATO’s bid
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats are ready to go out on Sunday for the country to join NATO, which paves the way for an application soon after abandoning decades of military freedom of alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats, the largest party in any election in the last century, have been holding internal debates over the past week about releasing a long-standing opposition to NATO membership.
With the party leadership saying that they will decide on Sunday, and generally expected to close down their opposition, the support for joining the alliance would get a broad majority in Sweden’s Riksdag with much of the opposition already in favor. A formal application from Andersson’s minority government will most likely follow.
07:43: Russia’s Donbas offensive ‘loses momentum’: Britain’s military intelligence
Russia’s offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region “has lost momentum and dropped significantly on schedule,” the British military intelligence said early Sunday.
“Under the current circumstances, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its pace of progress over the next 30 days,” the British military said in a regular Twitter bulletin.
“Despite small-scale initial progress, Russia has failed to achieve significant territorial gains over the past month while maintaining consistently high levels of attrition,” the post said, adding that “Russia is now likely to suffer losses of one-third of the ground combat force committed in February. . “
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Russia’s Donbas offensive has lost momentum and ended up significantly behind schedule. Despite small-scale initial progress, Russia has failed to achieve significant territorial gains over the past month while maintaining a consistently high level of fatigue.– Ministry of Defense @ (@DefenceHQ) 15 May 2022
07:08: Missile hits military infrastructure in Lviv region: governor
A missile strike hit some military infrastructure in the western Ukrainian region of Lviv early on Sunday, the region’s governor Maxim Kozitsky said in a post on his messaging app Telegram.
“There is no information on dead or injured right now,” Kozitsky said. “The extent of the destruction is being clarified.”
01:35: “Our music conquers Europe”: Zelensky celebrates Ukraine’s win at Eurovision
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated the hip-hop group Kalush Orchestra on their victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in Italy late on Saturday
“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe!” Zelensky wrote on Facebook early on Sunday praising the Kalush Orchestra after beating 24 other competitors.
The group’s contribution “Stefania” – which was sung in Ukrainian – mixed rap with traditional folk music and was a tribute to the band’s frontman Oleh Psiuk’s mother.
“I thank the Kalush Orchestra for this victory and everyone who gave us your votes! I am sure the sound of victory in the battle with the enemy is not far away,” he added.
Ukraine took the victory with a leading lead in the spectator poll. Britain’s Sam Ryder finished second, while Chanel from Spain finished third.
This is the third time that Ukraine has won the annual competition.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)