US says it’s time for Finland, Sweden to join NATO
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Thursday that it is time for Turkey to ratify the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, bluntly saying that alliance members should quickly approve their membership.
The State Department said Foreign Minister Antony Blinken had reaffirmed resolute support for Finland and Sweden in phone calls with his foreign ministers and said the United States placed great importance on “remaining allies expeditiously ratifying their accession.”
In nearly identical statements about the two conversations released just 13 minutes apart, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken had “reiterated US support for Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership.”
“He conveyed again our firm belief that Finland and Sweden are ready to join the alliance,” Price said of the talks with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. “The United States urges remaining allies to quickly ratify their accession.”
The statements did not mention Turkey by name, but the calls came just a day after Blinken met with the foreign minister of Turkey, whose country is NATO’s most ardent opponent of Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
The two countries applied for NATO membership last year after becoming alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Only two of the alliance’s 30 members – Hungary and Turkey – have yet to ratify their membership, although Hungary’s ratification is seen as a formality and is expected soon.
Turkey, meanwhile, has raised significant objections to the Nordic countries joining the alliance, citing their support for Kurdish groups that Ankara sees as terrorist threats. Turkey has demanded that Sweden in particular do more to rein in these Kurdish groups before they agree to join NATO.