The Finland has decided to apply for NATO membership. “I, or Finland, are not known for hiding behind a finger. It is better to say clearly what has already been said, even to the interested party, and this is what I did “, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö told reporters after confirming Helsinki’s intention to officially apply for NATO membership. . The Guardian reports it. His words refer to the phone call Niinistö had with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. The Finnish parliament will examine and vote on the official draft membership tomorrow. There Sweden intends to submit its NATO membership application on Tuesday. The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports that the Swedish plan is to submit the application on Tuesday at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, after the government takes the historic decision to run for the alliance on Monday afternoon.
“Sweden, Finland, if you are ready, we are ready.” Thus the foreign minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, addressing Finland and Sweden and the hypothesis of their entry into NATO, concluded her first speech at the closing press conference of the NATO summit in Berlin together with the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, connected by videoconference. Baerbock delivered this sentence in English, “Sweden, Finland: if you are ready we are ready”, while the rest of the speech was delivered in German.
«The decision to join NATO by Sweden and Finland must be taken by them. It would be a historic moment and it would increase our defense capacity », the words of Jens Stoltenberg. And he added: “We are ready to sit down immediately with Sweden and Finland” and give them security guarantees before they join NATO.