NATO chief: Finland and Sweden should merge | News
The joint air defense initiative “European Sky Shield” was also signed by 15 countries, including Finland, on Thursday.
In an interview with Yle, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg offered his assessment of the accession process for Finland and Sweden to join NATO after a meeting with the alliance’s defense ministers.
“NATO members made a historic decision this summer at the summit in Madrid, when they invited Finland and Sweden to apply for membership. So far, the application process has progressed the fastest in NATO’s history. 28 out of 30 countries’ parliaments have ratified the application in their national parliaments,” Stoltenberg told Howl.
In order for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance, legislative assemblies in all 30 NATO member states need to ratify the Nordic countries’ accession. Hungary and Turkey are the remaining countries that have not yet done so.
“I am aware that two are missing. We are working with them to make it happen as quickly as possible. I do not want to speculate on when it will happen. We are aware of Turkey’s concerns regarding terrorism. Finland and Sweden are receiving them . consideration, and the countries are implementing the mechanism they agreed on in Madrid,” Stoltenberg said, adding that “dialogue is taking place at different levels”.
Finland was represented at the meeting by the Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen (Centre), which noted that Hungary would support Finland’s accession to the alliance.
After speaking with his Hungarian counterpart, Kristóf Szalay-BobrovniczkynKaikkonen said he was told that the Hungarian parliament would ratify Finland’s accession after a seasonal recess.
“My colleague assured me that Hungary supports Finland’s NATO membership and that the issue will move forward,” Kaikkonen told reporters in Brussels.
“Finland and Sweden together”
Stoltenberg also offered his position that Finland and Sweden should join separately, as Turkey has previously proposed.
“Finland and Sweden applied for membership together. We invited them to the summit in Madrid, where the accession document was signed together. 28 countries’ parliaments have ratified it for both countries. We will continue our work to ensure that the two remaining members ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s membership together,” assured the Secretary General.
European Sky Shield
On Thursday, It was reported by Reuters (siirrit to another palveluun) that 15 countries – most of them NATO members – would jointly acquire air defense systems in a system called the “European Sky Shield”. On behalf of Finland, Kaikkonen signed the initiative on Thursday.
Stoltenberg said he was delighted to see the European Sky Shield become a reality.
“It is a welcome initiative. This has been done in the past in NATO to reduce costs and increase cooperation. The war in Ukraine has shown the importance of air defense. The new system is compatible with NATO’s current air defense, so NATO airspace will be even safer,” stressed the NATO Secretary General.
“The aim of the initiative is to speed up and facilitate the procurement processes for defense materiel acquisitions and to explore cooperation opportunities during their life cycle,” said a press release from the Finnish Ministry of Defense.