It's official: Finland, on Sunday, and Sweden, on Monday, formalized their request to join NATO, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
“We are leaving an era to enter a new one,” said Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
"France will stand alongside Finland and Sweden" in the face of "a threat or aggression against their sovereignty", warned the Elysée on Monday, while the path towards NATO enlargement seems strewn with pitfalls.
"Any state that would seek to test European solidarity, through a threat or aggression against their sovereignty by any means whatsoever, must have the certainty that France will stand alongside Finland and Sweden", writes the presidency in a press release.
“France (…) stands ready to strengthen cooperation in defense and security with these two partners, through high-level strategic consultations and reinforced military interactions”, he continues.
The blocking of Turkey, the threats of Putin
The French press release is a response to Russia which, for several days, has been raising its voice in the face of such a possibility.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that these memberships did not constitute "an immediate threat".
But, he continued, “the deployment of military infrastructure on the territories of these countries will of course lead to a response”.
Russia had in particular explained its attack in Ukraine by the rapprochement of its western neighbor with NATO, believing that this constituted an “existential” threat to its security.
VIDEO.
The accession of Sweden and Finland "not a threat", but Moscow will react, assures Putin
Finland and Sweden will have to convince all the countries currently members of the military alliance if they want to integrate it, this being possible only by a unanimous vote.
It's far from won because Turkey is blocking.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed on Monday evening that Turkey will "not give in", again accusing the two Nordic countries of showing leniency towards the Kurdish rebels of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) considered a terrorist organization .
The West, however, wants to be optimistic.
Sweden and Finland should be integrated into NATO "as soon as possible", the British government said on Monday.
"Their membership will strengthen Europe's collective security," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, adding that the UK "looked forward to working with them as NATO's new allies and was ready to offer them all (its) assistance during the accession process”.