NATO signs Sweden’s and Finland’s membership offer
BRUSSELS (AP) – The 30 NATO allies signed the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, sending the two nations’ offers of membership to the alliance’s capitals for approval of the legislation – and any political problems in Turkey.
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The move further increases Russia’s strategic isolation in the wake of its invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February and military fighting there since.
“This is truly a historic moment for Finland, for Sweden and for NATO,” said Alliance Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The 30 ambassadors and permanent representatives formally approved a decision taken at a NATO summit in Madrid last week, when the leaders of the member nations invited Russia’s neighbor Finland and Scandinavian partner Sweden to join the military club.
However, securing parliamentary approval for the new members in Turkey could still be a problem even if Sweden, Finland and Turkey reached a memorandum of understanding at the Madrid summit.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Ankara could block the process if the two countries fail to grant Turkey’s demands for the extradition of people seen as terror suspects. The wanted persons in Turkey have links to banned Kurdish groups or the network of an exiled priest accused of a failed coup in Turkey in 2016.
He said the Turkish parliament could refuse to ratify the agreement. This is a potent threat because accession to NATO must be formally approved by all 30 member states, giving everyone a blocking right.
Stoltenberg said he did not expect any change. “There were security issues that needed to be addressed. And we did what we always do in NATO. We found a common ground,” he said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made the process extra urgent. It will anchor the two nations in the Western military alliance and give NATO more influence, especially in the face of Moscow’s military threats.
“We will be even stronger and our people will be even more secure as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” Stoltenberg said.
At a press conference, the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland were asked whether the memorandum stated people who would need to be extradited to Turkey. Both ministers said no such list was part of the agreement.
“We will fully respect the memorandum. There are of course no lists or the like in the memorandum, but what we must do is have better cooperation when it comes to terrorists,” said Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto was just as steadfast.
“Everything that was agreed in Madrid is in the document. There are no hidden documents behind it or any agreements behind it,” Haavisto said.
Each alliance nation has different legislative challenges and procedures to deal with, and it can take several more months for the two Nordic nations to take their place as official NATO members.
The German parliament will ratify the membership offers on Friday, according to the Free Democrats, a partner party in the country’s coalition government. Other parliaments may only come to the approval process after long summer breaks.
“I look forward to a speedy ratification process,” Haavisto said.
Meanwhile, the protocols approved on Tuesday already brought both nations deeper into NATO’s trap. As close partners, they have already participated in some meetings that dealt with issues that directly affected them. As invited guests, they can attend all meetings of the ambassadors, even if they do not yet have the right to vote.
Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin