Albanian Government favors Sweden and Finland in NATO – EURACTIV.com
The Albanian government is in favor of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, according to the Council of Ministers’ latest decision on Thursday.
Albania has been a member of NATO since 2009. It has joined the EU’s position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has promised aid through NATO.
“We formally agreed on the enlargement of the Alliance and the inclusion of these two countries,” Foreign Minister Olta Xhaçka told a news conference.
Mr Xhaçka stated that the decision would now be referred to the Albanian Parliament, which would have the final say on whether to ratify it.
“These protocols will then be forwarded to [the Albanian] Parliament for its ratification. Once the parliaments of all 30 NATO member states, as well as the parliaments of Finland and Sweden, have also ratified this procedure, it will then be possible to accept them. de jure in the North Atlantic Treaty, ”Xhaçka added.
Finland and Sweden recently applied to join the alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey continues to stand in the way as unanimous approval of all 30 member states is required.
Delegations from the three countries met in Ankara on Wednesday (May 26). Following the meeting, a senior Turkish official declared that Turkey would vote against their application unless its concerns were addressed through concrete measures, quoting Associated Press.
Turkey claims that Sweden and Finland have given their support to groups that threaten security in Turkey, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has denied Turkey’s allegations and says that Sweden does not provide weapons or support to terrorists.
Albania has an ever closer relationship with Turkey and has been warned to support Ankara in matters relating to “terrorists”, but this has so far not affected their decision on NATO.