Stoltenberg promised that the bloc would “fairly quickly” make a decision on whether Helsinki wants to join
NATO “welcome warmly“Finland if it applies for membership and is ready to make a decision on membership”pretty fast,“said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday.
Taking the country on board would enable the US-led military bloc to move even closer to Russian territory.
Stoltenberg spoke to CNBC and said that Helsinki’s decision to review its long-standing policy of freedom of alliance is a “direct result of the war in Ukraine“as the land”has a very long border with Russia“However, he added that it is entirely up to the Finns to decide whether or not to join NATO.
“We will respect the decision no matter what the outcome, but if Finland decides to apply for membership, I am convinced that NATO allies will welcome them warmly – and we can make the decision to have them as a member of the alliance fairly quickly,” he said.
Stoltenberg’s statement came a day after Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto visited Brussels for talks with his NATO counterparts. In a speech to the news agency Iltalehti, Haavisto revealed that his counterparts asked him if Finland and possibly Sweden would submit membership applications before the NATO summit in June in Madrid. At a press conference, Haavisto, who had previously expressed concern about potential reprisals from Russia, said that the NATO countries had been “very active“offers Helsinki”both diplomatic and security assistance“during the application process.
According to the Foreign Minister, the Finnish government intends to present a review of how Russia’s military attack on Ukraine affected the country’s national security situation. Subject to parliamentary support, ministers are prepared to come up with a NATO membership proposal quickly, Haavisto said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned in an interview with Sky News on Thursday that Russia would perceive Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO as “a threat to the entire security architecture,“and therefore would have”to take further action“by making his defense on his western flank”more sophisticated.”
Recent surveys in both Finland and Sweden show that the conflict in Ukraine has dramatically changed public opinion from previous years, with more respondents now supporting the idea of NATO membership.
Commenting on the record numbers, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto stated that support for membership was so high that no referendum would be needed. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Russia’s offensive in Ukraine undermined trust between Helsinki and Moscow in a “irreversible“way.
Moscow attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s final recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French mediated Minsk Protocol was designed to give the breakaway regions a special status within the Ukrainian state.
Russia has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kyiv insists that the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied allegations that it planned to retake the two regions by force.
Source: sn.dk