The Parliament of France ratifies the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO

MADRID, 3 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The French National Assembly has approved this Tuesday at the last minute the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, a decision that has received 209 votes in favor and 46 against.

Specifically, the measure has been supported by Emmanuel Macron's party, Renaissance, The Republicans, the Socialist Party, the environmentalist party, the Democratic Movement and Horizons. On the other hand, the France Insumisa has voted against, while the National Group has abstained, as detailed by the Lower House in a statement.

In this way, France joins the list of NATO member countries that have already ratified in their parliaments the accession of the two Nordic countries to the Atlantic Alliance, such as Germany, Lithuania, Bulgaria or Albania.

Finland and Sweden had for decades refused to apply to join NATO, although they have changed their position as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, unleashed on February 24 by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Both countries took a further step on July 5 in joining NATO with the signing of their accession protocol, with which they become 'de facto' members of the military alliance in the absence of formal ratification. After that, the director general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, spoke of "historic day".

The access of Sweden and Finland was unblocked at the Madrid summit on June 29 and 30, in which the leaders invited both candidates, after culminating in the prelude to the meeting an agreement for Turkey to lift its veto in exchange for a greater commitment of the Scandinavian countries in the fight against the terrorist group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).