Finland and Sweden Submit Applications to Join NATO

Storyful
2 年前

Finland and Sweden officially submitted their applications to join NATO on May 18 in a meeting with Secretary-General Jens Stolenberg in Belgium.

The Finnish and Swedish ambassadors to NATO, Klaus Korhonen and Axel Wernhoff, formally conveyed the applications to Stoltenberg at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.

Stoltenberg said NATO would “work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions” on the Nordic countries’ membership bids, according to published remarks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country would not support Finland and Sweden’s accession to the alliance. Ankara could unilaterally block any new member from joining.

Finland and Sweden announced plans to seek NATO membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Credit: Oana Lungescu via Storyful