Sweden and Finland insist on joining NATO together and "as soon as possible"

BRUSELAS, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Swedish Defense Minister, Pal Jonson, said on Wednesday that Stockholm's ambition is to join NATO "as soon as possible" and to do so hand in hand with Finland, with which it jointly applied for membership last May in a process now blocked by Turkey and Hungary, the only allies pending ratification of their accession.

In statements before the second day of the meeting of allied defense ministers, Jonson stressed that from his conversations with the secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, came the commitment that Sweden and Finland enter NATO at the same time.

"We all agree that the ambition is for Sweden and Finland to start together and be ratified together and join the alliance at the same time," he argued, although he has acknowledged that now the issue depends on Ankara, which maintains a veto over Sweden, citing lack of cooperation in anti-terrorism.

Along the same lines, his Finnish colleague, Mikko Savola, has assured that he hopes the country can join NATO "soon" and has emphasized that 28 of the 30 allies have already ratified the accession process.

After the option of taking steps alone won out in Finland, given the persistent Turkish blockade of Sweden, the minister stressed that Helsinki continues to defend joint entry. "It is better for Finland, for Sweden and for NATO", he has stated, reiterating that the important thing is that both Nordic countries become members of the military organization "as soon as possible".

Faced with the reluctance of Turkey, NATO is now marking the summit of allied leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania, next July as the deadline for the accession of Sweden and Finland, since the allies assume that the electoral panorama in Turkey postpones until the summer the ratification.