Correspondent in Brussels
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The ambassadors to NATO of Finland and Sweden Yesterday, they formally presented their respective applications for admission to the most important military organization in the world and delivered it to the Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergat the Alliance headquarters. The act marked the beginning of the negotiation process that turns these two countries into members number 31 and 32 of NATO. Stoltenberg said it was “a good day, at a critical time for our security” and that the organization’s “closest associates” asking to become full members is “historic,” especially considering they both come from a particular tradition of neutrality.
According to statutes of the Washington Treatythis fact has started the negotiations between NATO itself and the two candidate countries, in which no significant difficulties are expected, bearing in mind that despite the policy of neutrality that the two countries have maintained up to now, in the events have acted in parallel to that of NATO
in many decisions. In any case, since these are direct negotiations between the organization and the two countries, no pitfalls of any kind are expected. Stoltenberg has even promised to find a way to legally guarantee that both Finland as Sweden they would be fully protected by the Alliance in case they were attacked before formally becoming members. Both Helsinki and Stockholm have informed Moscow of their intentions in this field and so far the reaction has been limited.
The reluctance of some allied leaders remains, especially that of Turkey, which yesterday reaffirmed its intention to veto Sweden’s entry because of its asylum policy for Kurds. The issue must be resolved as soon as possible because all NATO members need to approve it. In this sense, Stoltenberg said yesterday that in this process “the security interests of all the Allies must be taken into account” and that for this reason “we are determined to solve all the problems” taking into account that “the Allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement, that we must stand together and that this is a historic moment that we must seize’.
The Russian autocrat, Vladimir Putin, has stated that he has no particular problems with Finlanda country that borders Russia and has been twice at war with Moscow, nor with Sweden, but if its entry constitutes an expansion of the military infrastructure in the territory of the new members, this would result in a “reaction” by part of you
The Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskovhad said this week that Russia is closely watching the movements of the two Nordic countries and added that it is “convinced” that their accession to the Atlantic Alliance “will not strengthen the security of Europe” but quite the opposite.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism