Per editor: Huang Sheng
According to CCTV news comprehensive Reuters and Agence France-Presse, Finland's presidential office said on April 3 that Finland will officially join NATO on April 4.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Finnish flag will be raised outside NATO headquarters on the 4th, when Finland will become the 31st member of NATO.
Image source: Visual China - VCG111325712081
The Prime Minister of Finland has said that he insists on joining NATO with Sweden
Xinhua News Agency reported on February 2 that Finnish Prime Minister Marin said in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on February 2 that Finland decided to insist on joining NATO with Sweden.
Swedish Prime Minister Christersson met with visiting Marin on the same day, and the two sides discussed issues such as the accession of the two countries to NATO, Sweden's rotating presidency of the European Union, and the security situation. "Last spring we began the common path of applying for NATO membership, and this journey must go hand in hand as we did at the beginning," Marin said at a subsequent joint press conference with Christsson, and that it is in the interest of all parties that Finland and Sweden join NATO together.
Finnish Prime Minister Marin (left) attends a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Christasson in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 2. (Xinhua News Agency)
According to Swedish TV reports on the same day, a poll in Finland showed that most Finns said they were ready to "join NATO alone, not Sweden."
Xinhua reported on March 15 that Swedish Prime Minister Wulf Christersson said on March 14 that given that Turkey has not changed its position on Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Sweden is more likely to join NATO later than Finland.
Christersson said at a press conference in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on the same day: "Our experience in recent weeks shows that Sweden and Finland are more likely to join NATO at the same time. ”
Turkey, Hungary still oppose Sweden's entry into NATO
According to Xinhua News Agency, on March 30, local time, the Turkish parliament unanimously approved Finland's application to join NATO with 276 votes in favor. However, Turkey remains opposed to Sweden's entry into NATO.
On March 25, local time, Turkish presidential office spokesman Karen said that Turkey's door to approve Sweden's accession to NATO has not been completely closed, and once Sweden's new anti-terrorism bill is passed, Turkey will re-examine Sweden's "accession" application after seeing specific measures to solve its security problems.
Swedish Prime Minister Andersson (right) and visiting Finnish President Niinistö attend a press conference on May 17, 2022. Source: Xinhua News Agency
Finland and Sweden abandoned their long-held policy of military neutrality last year and applied to join NATO. According to the protocol, NATO can only admit new members with the "unanimous consent" of its 30 members. Due to the delay in the ratification of Turkey and Hungary, the accession process of the two countries has been put on hold.
On March 27, the Hungarian parliament voted to approve Finland's application for NATO membership.
Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkey at the end of June last year, specifying Turkey's conditional agreement to support the two countries' accession to NATO. However, in January this year, the Swedish government approved a number of demonstrations against the Turkish government or support for the Kurds in the capital Stockholm, which caused strong dissatisfaction on the Turkish side. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan then said that Turkey has a positive attitude towards Finland and Sweden not when it comes to joining NATO.
Erdogan said on March 17 that Turkey recognized Finland's efforts to join NATO and decided to start the relevant procedures for ratifying Finland's accession, but Sweden has not been able to meet the relevant requirements, so Turkey cannot promote the approval of Sweden's accession to NATO.
According to Reuters, there has been little progress in negotiations between Sweden and Turkey.
Most analysts believe that Turkey will not make a decision on Sweden's accession until after the May election.
Hungary is also opposed to Sweden's accession to the treaty. Hungarian government spokesman Zortan Kovacs said on March 29 that Sweden has been "hostile to" Hungary for many years, and that Swedish representatives "have repeatedly been keen to criticize Hungary through diplomatic channels and use their political influence to harm Hungary's interests."
"There is a considerable degree of dissatisfaction with Sweden, and these grievances need to be resolved before ratifying the country's membership (of NATO)." Kovacs said bridging the differences between the two countries requires both sides to work together.
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