More than two-thirds of the NATO alliance’s members have now agreed to the accession of Finland and Sweden. Now French President Emmanuel Macron also signed the official documents approving the applications of Finland and Sweden to become NATO members.
France’s parliament approved the enlargement proposal earlier this month, after the two Nordic nations applied to join the alliance in May, 2022.
By petitioning the Western bloc for membership, both renounced their prior non-alignment, with Finland officially having been neutral since shortly after World War II and Sweden since the early 19th century.
Moscow warned Sweden and Finland in May of serious military and political consequences should they go through with their bid for NATO membership, as Russia has no territorial disputes with either state, Moscow is relatively unperturbed by the prospect.
By contrast, Russia has for decades described the prospect of a NATO-aligned Ukraine as an unacceptable security threat, ultimately sending troops into the country partly in an effort to prevent this outcome.
If Ukraine had joined the alliance, its territorial claim over Crimea – which voted to join the Russian Federation in 2014 – could have brought NATO into direct conflict with Russia.
All of NATO’s 30 members must ratify new additions to the alliance. Turkey threatened in May to veto Finland’s and Sweden’s membership bids, citing the alleged support of Stockholm and Helsinki for Kurds that Ankara considers terrorists.
A tentative deal between Turkey and the Nordic countries has apparently been reached, with Sweden announcing the extradition of a Turkish national to his home country. It is unclear whether the suspect was on the list of alleged terrorists wanted by Ankara.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated on Thursday that his government would meet with Finnish and Swedish officials later this month to further discuss the two states’ NATO applications.
More than 20 of NATO’s 30 members have now ratified the entry of Finland and Sweden. US President Joe Biden signed the official documents on Tuesday. But doubt still remains for Serbia and Hungary to agree on this special security issue.
The French president, however, has shied away from some of the harsher anti-Russian rhetoric of his NATO allies. Although France has backed successive rounds of EU sanctions and sent arms to Ukraine.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2022.
NATO the imperialist army crusading through the world. Attacking anyone who dares defy them or simply have a strong economy or military. It’s quite amusing that they still think they’re in a position to expand as the entire bedrock of democracy crumbles worldwide.
NATO should no longer exist. Its basically an organized crime syndicate at this point