The Ambassador of Finland and Sweden, Klaus Coraesta and Axel Wernhoff, have submitted the request to the Secretary-General of NATO at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO deployment. We agree that we have to be together and that it is a historic moment to take advantage of,” said Stoltenberg at the event, and congratulated the two countries on the decision taken. The procedure for admitting a country to NATO provides for a number of formal steps, but Stoltenberg has announced that the military alliance will take the decision as soon as possible. In addition to formal steps, the admission of new participants requires all countries already members of NATO to give their consent. The only thing that has been opposed so far has been Turkey. Turkey has accused the two countries of supporting Kurdish entrepreneurs and has stopped doing so as a condition for accepting the request. The Russian Government has warned that Sweden and Finland have taken a very significant and dangerous step that affects Russian security and is obliged to take “military” measures.

Notable majorities in the parliaments of Sweden and Finland

The change in the position of the two countries that have held a position of neutrality at the international level for decades is the one that has officially materialized today. The decision is directly related to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia of both governments.

In Sweden, the decision was first announced by the ruling Social Democratic Party SAP. Parliament subsequently ratified the agreement by an absolute majority, opposed to the Left and the Green Party. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson explained that if she did not join NATO, Sweden would be the only one outside the Baltic countries and would be in a ‘weak’ situation. It points out that, even if it enters NATO, Sweden does not want a military base or a nuclear weapon on its territory.

The Finnish Parliament has also given its approval by a clear majority to the request for accession to NATO and with the only opposition of the Ezkerra and Alderdi Berdea parties. 188 Members voted in favour, 8 against and four abstained.