Finland and Sweden's entry into Nato draws closer
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
Sweden has reformed its Constitution to meet the demands of Turkey, which has been reluctant about the accession of Stockholm and Helsinki to Nato.
Finland and Sweden's entry into Nato draws closer
Sweden has reformed its Constitution to meet the demands of Turkey, which has been reluctant about the accession of Stockholm and Helsinki to Nato.
The time has come to finalise the accession process and welcome Finland and Sweden as members of Nato. This was stated by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on 21 November, on the occasion of the 68th annual session of the Atlantic Alliance's Parliamentary Assembly, the body that acts as a link between Nato itself and the national parliaments of member countries.
Stoltenberg: "On the Ukrainian question, Nato must stay the course"
The proposal to integrate the two Scandinavian nations into Nato was put forward following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in order to allow Helsinki and Stockholm to benefit from what is known as the alliance's "umbrella". The latter provides, in the event of an attack on any one of the member nations, for a joint military response.
"On the Ukrainian question, we must all stay the course together," Stoltenberg said. "If we let Putin win, the price each of us will have to pay will be far higher. Authoritarian regimes the world over will know that they can get what they want through the use of force."
Turkey's demands for the green light on Finland and Sweden's entry into Nato
Recently, Sweden took a fundamental step in view of its accession to Nato. The Stockholm parliament voted, on Wednesday 16 November, on a constitutional amendment that makes it possible to tighten the fight against terrorist organisations. In this way, the aim is to comply with the demands put forward by Turkey, a member country of the alliance that had opposed the entry of the two nations, on the grounds that they host on their territories some members of Kurdish political movements. In particular the workers' party Pkk, considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara.
The constitutional reform was approved with 278 votes in favour out of 349: only the left-wing opposition voted against. For Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who travelled to Turkey and met its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it was "a great step forward for Sweden".
The risk of an escalation in relations between Russia and the West
On Saturday 19 November, Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto confirmed his country's desire to join Nato, describing the application "a natural step". The head of Helsinki's diplomacy recalled that as far back as 2004 his country had explained that it would consider joining the alliance "in the event of dramatic changes in terms of security". "What could be more dramatic," Haavisto asked, "than the fact that a neighbouring nation has attacked https://www.lifegate.it/tag/ucraina a country of 50 million inhabitants?".
Finland's application to join NATO was the "natural step" to take following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Nordic country's foreign minister told a conference in Bahrain on Saturday.
➡️ u.afp.com/icxi
➡️ u.afp.com/icxi
For its part, however, Russia has always maintained that the entry of Finland and Sweden, with a consequent eastward expansion of Nato's borders, would represent a provocation towards Moscow. The risk, therefore, is that the decision could lead to a further escalation in the already extremely strained relations between the Kremlin and the West.