***Courtesy of Satu Karimäki on YouTube*** on what President Niinistö meant,
“The negotiations with NATO will be run in an accelerated pace, but as decisions have to be ratified by each member and different Parliaments work at their own timetables the proceedings on each country cannot be hurried. I do trust that the solidarity that has been demonstrated in the current situation, would lead to rapid decision making if the situation would come to that.
President Biden came up with the idea of calling the Swedish prime minister and we reached her. We will continue with the discussion on matters discussed here and Nordic safety with her tomorrow.
We have previously discussed with president Biden and have agreed that we should meet. Earlier this week Finland reached out to Biden and the meeting was arranged immediately. Finland reached out to arrange the meeting.
The discussion should be seen as Finland moving into significantly closer collaboration with USA.”
You can watch the 3 minute clip from the Press Conference [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN2VdaiOznY).
President Biden also called President Niinistö a good friend [when they met in the White House](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScjajJBZTd8).
He further said that Finland is a critical part of the US and a strong defense partner as well. Interesting remarks from President Niinistö: “We usually don’t start wars”
How soon do you think Finland will become a [member state of NATO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO)?