By Lorne Cook
Associated Press
BRUSSELS — NATO is ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly to bring Finland and Sweden into its ranks, NATO military alliance secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced Wednesday after the two countries submitted their requests for membership.
The requests, delivered by the Finnish and Swedish ambassadors to NATO, launched a security countdown.
Russia, whose war in Ukraine prompted them to join the military organization, has warned it will not welcome their entry and may fight back.
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“I welcome the requests from Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
You are our closest partners," Stoltenberg said at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.
“All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement.
We all agree that we must stick together, and we all agree that this is a historic moment that we must seize,” he added.
"This is a good day at a critical time for our security," Stoltenberg said with a smile, standing next to the two Nordic envoys and with flags from Finland, Sweden and NATO placed in the background.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the alliance stop expanding to Russia's borders, and several NATO allies, led by the United States and Britain, have indicated they are willing to offer security support to Finland and Sweden if Putin tries to provoke or destabilize them while their entry is completed.
The countries will only benefit from Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty, which guarantees that an attack on any member will be considered an attack on all, once the ratification process is complete, probably in a few months.
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For now,
the 30 member states will study the petitions
.
This procedure is expected to take about two weeks, although the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has expressed his reservations to the incorporation of Finland and Sweden.
If their objections are resolved and the negotiations proceed as expected, the two countries could be members of the group in a few months.
The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but NATO wants to move quickly given the Russian threat hanging over the two countries' heads.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shows documents as Sweden and Finland apply to join in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, May 18, 2022.Johanna Geron/AP
Canada, for example, said it hoped to ratify its access protocol within a few days.
Stoltenberg said NATO allies "are determined to work through all issues and reach quick conclusions."
The fact that the two Nordic partners applied together means that they will not waste time having to ratify each other's application.
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“That Sweden and Finland go hand in hand is a strength
.
Now the process of joining the talks continues," Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Swedish TT news agency.
Public opinion in Finland and Sweden has shifted widely in favor of NATO membership since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Finland and Sweden are NATO's closest partners.
Both have functioning democracies, well-funded armed forces, and contribute to alliance military operations and aerial surveillance.
Any obstacles they encounter would be of a purely technical or perhaps political nature.
The NATO membership process is not formalized and the steps may vary.
But first the applications will be reviewed at a session of the North Atlantic Council of 30 member states, likely at the ambassadorial level.
The CAN will decide whether to go ahead and what steps need to be taken to grant membership.
This depends primarily on how aligned the candidate countries are with NATO's political, military and legal standards, and whether they contribute to security in the North Atlantic area.
This should not pose a big problem for Finland and Sweden.
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Later, during the accession negotiations that could conclude in just one day once the terms of those negotiations are set, the two countries will be asked to commit to comply with Article 5 and cover the spending obligations for the internal budget of the NATO, which is around 2,500 million dollars and is divided proportionally among its members.
Finland and Sweden would also be informed of their role in NATO's defensive plans and any other legal or security obligations they may have, such as personnel background checks and the management of classified information.