(PLO) – Prime Minister Kristersson emphasized that for a number of strategic reasons, Sweden and Finland need to join NATO at the same time, otherwise there will be consequences for the region.
In an interview with the newspaper Financial Times On February 19, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that for strategic reasons, Sweden and Finland’s applications to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should be approved at the same time.
Mr. Kristersson’s comments came following NATO first acknowledged the possibility that the two Nordic countries would have to join the alliance separately and possibly Finland would become a NATO member first.
| Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at the Munich Security Conference, Germany, on February 18. Photo: AFP |
“The very close military cooperation between Sweden and Finland before we joined NATO would be much more complicated if we were divided over membership,” Prime Minister Kristersson said.
According to Kristersson, Finland and Sweden “are security guarantors” so the Nordic countries “have capabilities that every NATO member state would benefit from, including Turkey. Ky”.
In May 2022, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO. To become a full member, the two Nordic countries need the approval of all 30 NATO member states. Currently, Turkey and Hungary have not ratified the above applications to join NATO.
In particular, Sweden’s application for accession was particularly strongly opposed by Turkey. Ankara has repeatedly accused Stockholm of harboring a group of Kurdish fighters that it considers “terrorists”.
Turkey, Sweden and Finland held talks to resolve the disagreement, but in January this year, Ankara suspended those efforts following many protests broke out in Sweden. once morest Turkey and once morest Sweden’s entry into NATO, including burning a copy of the Koran or hanging upside down an effigy resembling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan also signaled that the country might approve Finland’s application to join NATO before Sweden.
Earlier this month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg publicly acknowledged the possibility that the two Nordic countries might have to join the alliance separately and Finland would go first.
However, in an interview with the newspaper Financial TimesPrime Minister Kristersson continued to insist that the two countries need to join NATO at the same time.
“We started this process together, worked it out together and so we wanted to finish it together. There are very good reasons to approve our application for accession at the same time before the meeting in Vilnius,” Kristersson said, referring to the NATO summit scheduled to be held in the capital Vilnius (Lithuania) next month. 7 to come.
The Finnish prime minister also warned of consequences if Turkey did not ratify Sweden’s membership before the summit in Vilnius.
“I think that would be bad for Sweden, the region and NATO, and harm Sweden’s ability to work with Finland in ensuring regional security in the face of a conflict that is right around the corner,” he said. us” – Mr. Kristersson emphasized.
Commenting on the scenario that Finland does not wait for Sweden to decide to join NATO first, Mr. Kristersson admitted he was “not prepared for that” but said that “every country has to make its own decision”.
Sharing the same view with her Swedish counterpart, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said during a discussion at the Munich Security Conference (Germany) that it is in the interests of NATO and Finland to join the alliance at the same time. Both countries expressed their desire to join together.
NATO Secretary General: Now is the time for Turkey to ratify Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO
Visiting Turkey, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Ankara to quickly approve applications to join the alliance of both Finland and Sweden.
VINH KHANG