The allies will sign today the protocol of accession to NATO of Sweden and Finland

BRUSSELS/MADRID, July 5 (EUROPE PRESS) -

NATO allies will sign this Tuesday in Brussels the protocol of accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance, after Turkey last week lifted the veto against both Scandinavian countries after achieving a greater commitment in the fight against terrorism.

Trilogue negotiations facilitated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and his team culminated last week in Madrid with an agreement ending a month-long blockade by Ankara and paving the way for Stockholm and Helsinki to the organization.

The signing will take place within the North Atlantic Council, the executive body that brings together the 30 allies at the Brussels headquarters. This document will be signed "in parallel" with the accession negotiations, which are expected to take only a few hours as Sweden and Finland are closely aligned with NATO standards.

The Alliance confirmed on Monday that both countries had "completed" accession talks and had "formally confirmed their willingness and ability to meet the political, legal and military obligations and commitments of NATO membership."

The Finnish delegation was led by Foreign and Defense Ministers Pekka Haavitso and Antti Kaikkonen, respectively, while the Swedish delegation was led by Foreign Minister Ann Linde. The meeting was also chaired by NATO's Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, Bettina Cadenbach.

Stoltenberg called the pact a "good deal" for all parties, adding that it will see the two Nordic countries work "even more closely" with Turkey to combat terrorism, extradite suspects or exchange information. Sweden and Finland participated in the Madrid summit as partners and not as 'guests', that is, 'de facto' members, a status that they would have had if they had signed the accession protocol before the meeting.

The two Nordic countries jointly requested their entry into NATO on May 18, an admission that the Atlantic Alliance was betting because it was 'express' and was ready for the Madrid summit.

However, Turkey has been frustrated by its reticence over the alleged collusion of Swedes and Finns with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG).

The next step will be the negotiations and the signing of the access protocol, which the allies will initial in Brussels to later send it to the different capitals. The ratification of these protocols would be the longest phase due to the different systems to guarantee the new partner.

This bureaucratic procedure will take months since each ally has a different validation system, and in many cases it involves a vote in Parliament. This means that the formal entry of Sweden and Finland will not arrive until the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023, something that worries the candidates who want to have security guarantees for this period in the face of threats from Russia.

Once all the members of the alliance and the candidates have approved these protocols, the next step will be to deposit these documents in Washington, where they are guarded by the United States Government.