THE Finland and Sweden are likely to apply for NATO membership on May 16, according to European diplomatic sources who spoke to AMPE.
The intention of the two countries is, according to the information of AMPE, the two countries, which are invited to the informal NATO Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Berlin on 14 and 15 May, to announce that the next day (16 May) they will submit formally their application for membership in the Euro-Atlantic Alliance.
Should the two Nordic countries finally decide to apply for membership in the Alliance, this is expected to be unanimously accepted as both countries are already acting as quasi-Allies. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made a statement on April 27, saying that Finland and Sweden were “NATO’s closest partners” and that if they decided to apply, “NATO would welcome them with open arms “and” the integration process is expected to be quick and they will join immediately after the completion of the formal process “.
European diplomatic sources note that the formal procedure provided for in Article 10 of the NATO Treaty in the case of Finland and Sweden will be in a hurry, without the need to submit a “Membership Action Plan”, as the two countries are fully adapted to the standards of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. It is estimated that the whole accession process, until the signing of the Accession Protocol by the allied countries and after the ratifications by the national parliaments, will be completed by the end of the year. In the meantime, the two countries will probably have received observer status already before the NATO Summit, which will take place in Madrid on June 28-30.
As diplomatic sources commented on the forthcoming application of the two Scandinavian countries to join NATO, “something that until last February seemed like a science fiction scenario, seems to have already been launched with the urgent process, constituting one of the many and the catalytic upheaval that the Russian attack on Ukraine brings to European security and to the geopolitical balances of the system of international relations as a whole. “
What will happen to Article 5
With regard to the critical interval between the application for membership of Finland and Sweden and the accession to the Alliance, a period of time between these two countries will be covered by Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (CSTO), Helsinki and Stockholm are already holding bilateral consultations with individual strong Allies to ensure security guarantees. In addition, Sweden and Finland can theoretically make use of the mutual assistance clause in Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union.
If the two Scandinavian countries join NATO, the Euro-Atlantic Alliance will now have 32 member states, of which 23 will be EU countries.
Russia has warned Sweden and Finland through bilateral diplomatic channels about the consequences of joining NATO, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
