NATO: the Finnish and Swedish Parliaments examine the candidacies

The Finnish and Swedish parliaments are considering on Monday, May 16, the candidacies of the two Nordic countries for NATO, with large majorities assured in both chambers.

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The Eduskunta, the Finnish Parliament, began a marathon session on Monday morning to examine the candidacy officially presented on Sunday by the executive, before a vote which will take place at the earliest on Tuesday.

According to the latest Finnish media reports, at least 85% of the 200 elected will vote yes to the NATO candidacy.

“Our security environment has fundamentally changed”

Finland announced its "

" NATO bid on Sunday as a direct result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Sweden set to follow after a decisive green light from the ruling party.

"

," said Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin opening the debate.

“

,” she said.

Due to the large number of interventions planned – more than 150 – the vote cannot take place on Monday, warned the president of the chamber Matti Vanhanen.

The Swedish Parliament meets from 10:30 a.m. (08:30 GMT), with a speech by Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson followed by the leaders of the parliamentary parties.

With the historic swing of the Social Democratic Party to power on Sunday, six of the eight parties in parliament are now in favor of membership, representing a theoretical majority of 304 MPs out of a total of 349. But the prime minister said on Sunday that she wanted to ensure “

” in parliament before the official decision of the Swedish government was announced.

Read alsoThe accession of Finland and Sweden, a strategic transformation for NATO

The candidatures of Sweden and Finland to NATO in reaction to the Russian offensive against Ukraine constitute a "

", judged on Monday the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Ryabkov.

"

," he said, quoted by the Russian agency Interfax.