Finland's government declared a “new era” is underway after announcing its intention to seek NATO membership, hours before Sweden's governing party on Sunday backed a𓃲 plan to join NATO amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has long complained of NATO moving closer to its borders, so these developments will be sure to further anger Moscow. President Vladimir Pu👍tin has already warned his Finnish counterpart on Saturday that relations would be “negatively a🙈ffected”.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking on Sunday after top diplomats from the alliance's 30 member states met in Berlin, said the process for Finland and Sweden to join could be very quick. He a🔯lso expressed his hope that Ukraine could win the war as Russian military advances appear to be faltering.
In Finland, President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin made the announcement that their country would seek membership in NATO during a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. The previously neutral Nordic country shares a long bo෴rder with Russia.
“This is a historic day. A new era beg𓂃i𓆉ns,” Niinisto said.
The Finnish Parliament is expected to endorse the decision in the coming days. A formal membership application will then be submitted to NATO headquarters in Brussels, most🌄 likely at some point next week.
Sweden alsoও moved a step closer to applying for NATO membership after the governing Social Democratic party backeꦅd joining the trans-Atlantic alliance.
“At its meeting today, the Social Democrats' party board has decided that the party wi🍨ll work for Sweden to apply for membership in NATO,” the party🍬 said in a statement.
The plan to join the alliance will be discussed in Sweden's parliament on Monday, and Prime Mi🎀nister Magdalena Andersson's Cabinet will make an announce later that day.
Stoltenberg said, “Russia's war in Ukraine is not going as🎶 Moscow had planned. They failed to take Kyiv. They are pulling ﷽back from around Kharkiv. Their major offensive in Donbas has stalled. Russia is not achieving its strategic objectives. Ukraine can win this war."
He a🌺dded that NATO must continue to step up its military support to the countꩵry.
Sweden has also already taken steps toward joining the alliance, while Georgia's bid is agai꧙n being discussed despite dire warnings from Moscow about the consequences if its neighbor becomes part of NATO.
Nordic NATO member Norway said it strongly welcomed Finland's decision🅘 to seek membership. Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt described Helsinki's move as ღ“a turning point” for the Nordic region's defense and security policies.
“Finnish membership in NATO will be good for Finland, good for the Nordic region, and good for NATO. Fꦍinland has Norway's full support," Huitfeldt said in comments emailed to The Associated Press.
Huitfeldt said the Norwegian government would facilitate “a swift consent to ratification by the Norw𝓡egian Parliament” foꦐr Finland's accession into NATO.
“We are now seeing unpreced♛ented unity in ♍NATO. With the Finnish membership, we will further strengthen the Nordic flank of the military alliance,” Huitfeldt said.
Stoltenberg said he was confident the accession process for Finland and Sweden could b🅠e expedited. In the meantime, the alliance would increase its presence in the Baltic region to deter Russian threats, he said.
“All allies real𝓀ise the historic🧔 magnitude of the moment,” Stoltenberg added.
That sentiment was echoed by German Foreign Mღinister Annalena Baerb♏ock.
“Sweden and Finland,ꦰ⛦ if you're ready, we're ready,” she said.
But NATO member Turkey has raised concerns about the two countries joining, alleging they supp🌱ort Kurdish militants that ꦯAnkara considers terrorists.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has wage⭕d an insurgency against Turkey since 1984 and the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people. Turkey has also been infuriated by US support for PKK-linked Syrian Kurdish militants to fight the Islamic State group.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çꦍavusoglu told reporters in Berlin on Sunday🐭 that Finland and Sweden had also imposed restrictions on defense sales to Turkey that he called “unacceptable”.
“It's not because we are against the expansion of NATO but because we believe c💖ountries who support terror and follow such policies against us should not be NATO all🦄ies,” Çavusoglu said.
However, Stoltenberg said his understanding is that Tur🌊key aims not to keep Finland or Sweden out but rather to have its concerns addressed first.
“Turkey has made it clear🍨 that their intention is not to block membership," he said.
Nonetheless, Turkey's raising of its grievances has led to concerns in Washington and Brussels that other NATO members might also use the admi🦂ssion process as a way to wring concessions from allies, possibly complicating and delaying accession.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke with Çavusoglu and will see him again on the margins of a special UN Security Council meet🎃ing later this week in New York, declined to comment on those concerns. But he voiced c♈onfidence that all NATO members would support the bids.
“I heard almost across the board, very strong support for Finland and Swe🍰den joining the alliance, if that's what they choose to do, and I'm very 🐬confident that we will reach consensus,” he said after the meeting in Berlin.
On the sidelines of the Berlin meeting, Blinken met earlier Sunday with Ukrai𒀰nian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to discuss the impact of the war and how to get Ukraine's grain to international markets.
Briꦗtain's top diplomat said NATO members would also discuss security issues beyond📖 Europe during their meeting on Sunday — a reference to growing unease among democratic nations about the rise of China.
"As well as protecting Euro-Atlantic 💦security, we also need to watch out for Indo-Pacific secu♛rity,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
Denmark's foreign minister, Jeppe 🎶Kofod, dismissed suggestions that objections from Putin could hinder the alliance from letting in new members.
“We see now a world where the enemy of democracy number one is Putin and the thinking that he represents,” Kofod said, adding t🍷hat NATO wou𒊎ld also stand with other countries, such as Georgia, which he said were being “instrumentalized” by Russia.
(With AP inputs)
