NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this Tuesday pledged the Atlantic Alliance to the military defense of Finland and Sweden, should there be any kind of threat during the negotiation deadlocks, until the ratification of the protocol membership.
Jens Stoltenberg considers it “unimaginable that NATO did not intervene” during the waiting period to join the Atlantic Alliance and admits that the safety of the two candidates is already guaranteed.
“You sit down with NATO, integrate into our political and military structures and exercise more with allied forces,” Stoltenberg said, recalling that “NATO has increased its presence in the Nordic region and many allies have given security guarantees to Sweden and Finland”.
“It would therefore be inconceivable that NATO would not act if your security is under threat,” said NATO’s secretary general, speaking in Sweden, alongside Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Stoltenberg informed the official that he believes the deadlocks in the negotiations will soon be overcome, noting that “Sweden has fulfilled its commitments under the Trilateral Memorandum and it is time to complete the ratification process”.
“I recently met with President Erdogan and am pleased that he has agreed to resume meetings of the Joint Standing Mechanism. I convened another meeting of Turkey, Finland and Sweden at NATO headquarters on Thursday,” he said. Stoltenberg, who also welcomed “the fact that the Hungarian Parliament has started talks on ratification.
“I hope that the process will be concluded soon,” said the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, admitting that he “desires to welcome Sweden and Finland (…) in the very near future” to a strengthened Atlantic alliance .
“The accession of Sweden and Finland will make our alliance stronger, with highly skilled military forces, an advanced defense industry and years of experience, training and cooperation with NATO allies,” he said.
The two Nordic countries that have traditionally pursued a policy of military non-alignment, but on 18 May 2022 finally ended their traditional neutrality and submitted their formal candidacy to the Atlantic Alliance on the same day. On July 5, NATO signed the accession protocol, which remains pending ratification in countries such as Turkey and Hungary.
Source: DN
