The Times: Sweden and Finland are likely to join NATO this summer

“Sweden and Finland can join NATO already this summer.” This was reported by The Times, citing its own sources.

Finland is expected to apply to join the North Atlantic Alliance in June, followed by Sweden, the newspaper writes.

Swedish and Finnish authorities are working together to reach a consensus in their countries on NATO membership, but each country will make the final decision on its own.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Sweden’s and Finland’s possible accession to NATO was one of the most discussed topics at a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on 6 and 7 April.

Finland may decide to apply for NATO membership in May, the Iltalehti newspaper reported on April 7. On April 14, the newspaper said, the Finnish cabinet will publish a supplement to its report on foreign policy and security. The Finnish Parliamentary Committee will begin discussing it after the Easter break. The newspaper emphasizes that the Finnish Government’s position on NATO membership will not be explicitly stated in the text of the supplement.

The newspaper’s sources indicate that the Council of Ministers will decide on NATO during the first two weeks of May. The information will then be passed on to NATO in Brussels.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters on April 7 that if Finland applied, NATO’s accession process could take several months to a year.

The ruling Swedish Social Democratic Labor Party is now discussing the country’s internal membership in NATO. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that she no longer rules out the possibility that her country will reconsider its alliance freedom policy and join the alliance. She has said many times before that freedom from military alliances serves Sweden well, but now she said that “when we redraw the map of security policy, we need to make a new analysis and make decisions based on it.”

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– / The Times, BGNES

Source: sn.dk