Sweden and Finland are already, de facto, under the protection umbrella of the Atlantic Alliance, its Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, warned today in Brussels in a message clearly addressed to Moscow. "As guests" to join the organization, you have been integrated into the political and military structures of NATO. It is inconceivable that the Allies would not act if Sweden or Finland were under any form of pressure," Stoltenberg stressed after receiving the new Swedish Prime Minister, the conservative Ulf Kristersson, at the Alliance headquarters.
In a radical turn to its traditional policy of neutrality, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Governments of Finland and Sweden and Finland applied to join the Atlantic Alliance. The agreement was sealed in June at the Madrid summit. Although the entry process is being "the fastest in the recent history of the Alliance", as Stoltenberg highlighted today, the truth is that right now it is blocked by two countries that have not yet ratified the agreement for its entry: Hungary and Turkey, the country that demanded the signing of a trilateral memorandum with the two Nordic countries on anti-terrorist cooperation to give its approval to the expansion of NATO.
Kristersson today reiterated to Stoltenberg that the new Swedish government is as committed as the previous one, a progressive coalition, to joining the military organization and has assured him that "it will redouble efforts to apply the memorandum before and after joining". The new Swedish leader has offered to travel to Ankara to meet with the Swedish authorities and clear up any remaining doubts regarding his commitment to anti-terrorist cooperation.
While, one after another, the parliaments of the allied countries ratified the accession treaty of the new Nordic partners, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spent the summer threatening to veto their entry if their governments do not give him sufficient guarantees that they will not they will give protection to Kurdish militants belonging to terrorist organizations. At the European Political Community summit in Prague last week, Erdogan suggested that perhaps they should enter separately. "Finland is not a country where terrorists roam freely," he commented, noting that relations with Sweden are different. "NATO at some point will have to make a decision, and if they decide in favor of Finland, of course we will do whatever it takes."
Stoltenberg has avoided entering into this type of consideration and, with a left hand, has insisted that it is important for Turkey to obtain the security guarantees it requires from the governments of both countries. The objective of the military organization continues to be that both countries, a very important military and strategic asset for the allies due to their geographical location, their democratic tradition and the high degree of preparation of their armies, enter at the same time. "I applaud the efforts that Sweden has already made to apply the Madrid agreement, not only by clearly saying that they want to increase collaboration in the fight against terrorism, but also by strengthening their legislation regarding members of terrorist organizations such as the PPK, lifting restrictions on exports weapons [to Turkey] and creating a permanent platform for exchanging information," the former Norwegian prime minister stressed.
Although the times are in the hands of Ankara, today NATO, which in recent months has seriously strengthened its presence in the Baltic Sea and has intensified joint military exercises with the Nordic countries, has wanted to make it clear that it will not sit idly by if either of them is threatened, whether they are formally within the organization or not. "Their incorporation into the Atlantic Alliance will make them safer, NATO stronger and transatlantic security firmer," its secretary general reiterated.
