Finland and Sweden are now officially one step away from joining NATO, after the ambassadors of the 30 countries of the Atlantic Alliance have signed the accession protocols of both States on Tuesday.
The act has been formalized at the headquarters of this organization in Brussels just a week after Turkey lifted its veto on the access of both countries during the recent summit in Madrid.
At this point, there is only one last link left to complete NATO's ninth enlargement, which has traveled the ultra-fast lane encouraged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The last milestone requires the ratification of the protocols in each of the 30 allied countries, something that could still take months, but should not, in principle, pose any problem.
"It is a historic day for Finland, for Sweden, for NATO and for Euro-Atlantic security", said the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, in an appearance after the signing, in which he recalled that the armed forces of Both countries and the Alliance are interoperable, and have been training and serving together for years.
"We share the same values and face the same challenges in the Baltic Sea and beyond," Stoltenberg continued.
“Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine has broken the peace in Europe.
That's why it's important that we all stick together at this dangerous time in our history."
Helsinki and Stockholm, which now officially enjoy candidate status, submitted their application to join NATO almost seven weeks ago, on May 18.
Until now, both have traveled the fastest path to accession in the history of this organization, according to its general secretary.
But ratification in the national parliaments of each of the 30 allied countries could still take "months", he has said.
"Different countries have different procedures," Stoltenberg said, wanting to be "cautious" when it comes to accurately predicting the speed of accession.
“But what we have seen is that many allies have prepared themselves,” he added.
"Many parliaments have said they are ready to do this very quickly."
The latest accession (that of North Macedonia,
in 2020) took about 12 months, has settled.
But that was in peacetime.
On this occasion, only Turkey seems capable of blowing up the process, if at any time it senses that Sweden and Finland do not comply with the terms of the agreement sealed between the three in Madrid.
The lifting of the veto by Ankara was forged in the hours prior to the summit in the Spanish capital, with the signing of a trilateral memorandum of understanding that addresses the main concerns of the Eurasian country in terms of the fight against terrorism ( such as the recognition of the Kurdish PKK as a terrorist organization or the willingness of Helsinki and Stockholm to work on the extradition of terrorists) and also in terms of arms exports (ending the embargo on Turkey).
"I hope that the three countries, Sweden, Finland and Turkey, can see that this is a good memorandum that leads to the Turkish Parliament also feeling that it can ratify our agreement," said Ann Linde, Swedish Foreign Minister, who has appeared alongside Pekka Haavisto, his Finnish counterpart, and Stoltenberg.
"In this document," Haavisto continued, "we have really addressed all the concerns that Turkey had raised, including terrorism, the PKK issue and so on... So I am convinced that, on the basis of cooperation that we have agreed, we can move forward and hopefully satisfy Turkey's concerns at this time."
The Finn, in a nod to Ankara, also wanted to recall that his country supported Turkey's candidacy for the European Union.
Haavisto thanked the allies for their support and indicated his willingness to start working this Tuesday as a candidate country.
“We are ready to safeguard our safe and prosperous Euro-Atlantic region together with our NATO allies”, the Finn has proclaimed.
"Together, we are stronger in upholding the rules-based international order and the principles of democracy, freedom and the rule of law."
The Swedish minister has emphasized the "overwhelming popular and political support" for the decision to join the alliance and has shown her country's willingness to fight "shoulder to shoulder" in the defense of the Atlantic.
"We believe that joining NATO is the best way for Sweden to guarantee our national security and to keep the Swedes safe."
The act of this Tuesday supposes a step more towards the enlargement after the declaration of the summit of Madrid.
This document salutes NATO's “open door” policy and expresses the “importance that the legitimate security concerns of all Allies are adequately addressed”, referring to Turkey.
“We welcome the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Turkey, Finland and Sweden to this effect”, adds the text, which underlines how the accession of these two countries will make “they be safer, NATO stronger and the Euro-Atlantic zone be safer."
This security, he adds, is key "even during the accession process."
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