From the ‘Doorstep statement’
by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the meetings of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels. Read the full statement on NATO.int
Toni Viljanmaa, ‘Lännen Media Finland’:
If Türkiye wants to ratify Finland before
Sweden, would that be acceptable for
NATO? And what would be the
consequences?
NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg:
So first of all, I think we need to
understand the historic dimension of
what NATO Allies have already decided.
We’re all Allies, made an historic decision
at the NATO Summit in July last year to
invite Finland and Sweden to become full
members of the Alliance. Then all Allies,
all 30 Allies signed the Accession Protocol, protocols of Finland and Sweden. And so far 28 out of 30 Allies have already ratified. So this has been the quickest ratification or accession process in NATO’s modern history, and as invitees, which is now the status that Finland and Sweden have as invited members, Finland and Sweden are more and more integrating into NATO’s military and civilian structures. Finland and Sweden sit at the NATO table,
participate in our meetings and in our
consultations. So, Finland and Sweden are in a very different place now than before they applied, and they are in a much better place. They have bilateral security assurances from many Allies, they are integrating into NATO and NATO has increased its presence in the region. So already both Finland and Sweden are much closer and much more integrated into NATO. So the main question is not whether Finland and Sweden are ratified together. The main question is that they are both ratified as full members as soon as possible. And I’m confident that both will be full members, and are working hard to get both ratified as soon as possible.
