UPDATE 1-NATO Deputy Chief “sure” to find consensus on membership in Finland and Sweden
(Adds details, background)
By Sabine Siebold and John Irish
BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) – NATO is convinced that it can overcome objections from Turkey and quickly recognize Finland and Sweden, its deputy chief said on Sunday as the alliance prepares for a historic enlargement in the Nordic region prompted by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Foreign ministers from NATO’s 30 member countries will hold two-day talks in Berlin this weekend, focusing on the two Nordic countries’ applications for membership. Their formal application to join NATO is expected within a few days.
But on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu unexpectedly raised objections, saying it was “unacceptable and outrageous” that the future new NATO members supported the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.
It was not immediately clear whether discussions between Cavusoglu and several NATO foreign ministers and their Finnish and Swedish counterparts later in the evening had made any progress in resolving the dispute.
When talks resumed on Sunday, NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana said he was confident Ankara’s concerns could be resolved.
“Turkey is an important ally and expressed concern raised between friends and allies,” Geoana told reporters.
“I am convinced that if these countries decide to apply for NATO membership, we will be able to welcome them, in order to find all the conditions for consensus to be met,” he added.
QUICK RATIFICATION
Many allies at the meeting in Berlin supported Finland and Sweden and emphasized the need to quickly ratify their membership offers, which usually takes up to a year.
“Germany has prepared everything to make a rapid ratification process,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters, adding that ministers had agreed at a dinner on Saturday that speed would not be lost.
“We have to make sure that we will give them security guarantees, there must not be a transition period, a gray area, where their status is unclear,” she said.
She was referring to the ratification period during which the Nordic countries would not yet be protected by NATO Article 5, which guarantees that an attack on an ally is an attack on all.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly reiterated Baerbock’s comments, saying she hoped it could be done “within a few weeks”.
The Allies, who on Sunday were joined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, discussed the issue of interim security guarantees for Sweden and Finland, whose plans have threatened retaliation from Moscow.
Russia regards NATO’s expansion as a threat to its own security, citing Ukraine’s ambition to join the alliance as a reason to launch what it calls a “special military operation” in its southern neighbor.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was to join Sunday’s talks to brief the Allies on the situation on the ground and NATO’s support for Kyiv.
Ministers will also look at a first draft of NATO’s new strategic concept, its basic military doctrine, which will be adopted at a summit in Madrid in late June.
“We agreed that we must continue to help Ukraine win and drive Russia out,” said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin must face a lasting defeat in Ukraine, Russia must be held back and such aggression must never happen again.” (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk Edited by Gareth Jones)