Blinken: The US will soon be able to call Sweden, Finland NATO allies
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he is confident the United States will be able to call Sweden and Finland NATO allies soon, saying Turkey’s concerns about the two nations joining the alliance is being taken up.
Blinken, speaking at a press briefing after meetings at the State Department with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts, said the two nations are already on track to be integrated into the alliance’s work.
“This is not a bilateral issue between the US and Turkey. And it will not turn into one,” Blinken said, adding that Finland and Sweden have had a productive process working with Turkey to address concerns and concrete steps have taken.
“I have every expectation that both will formally become members soon.”
Finland and Sweden both asked to join NATO this year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but longtime member Turkey refused to approve their request until a number of demands were met, including taking a tougher stance against Kurdish militants and removing a gun sales ban.
NATO makes its decisions by consensus, which means the two Nordic nations require approval from all 30 alliance member states. Only Turkey remains against their membership, although Hungary has yet to ratify it.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Finland hopes to complete the NATO membership process soon.
“We take the security concerns of all allies seriously. Finland is a security provider whose membership will further strengthen the alliance as a whole.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said the NATO accession process is “progressing well.”
In Ankara on Thursday, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen said the sooner Turkey ratifies its NATO membership the better and would consider granting arms export permits to Turkey, one of Ankara’s requests, on a case-by-case basis.
Reporting by Michael Martina and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Alexandra Hudson
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