>HELSINKI (AP) — The Finnish president said in an interview published Saturday that he trusts that Finland and Sweden will be admitted into NATO by July, and hinted that he wants the United States to put pressure on Turkey to approve their membership bids.
>If the issue drags on, the entire process of admitting new members into the military alliance will become questionable, President Sauli Niinistö said in an interview with the Finnish news agency STT.
>“If it doesn’t happen by the Vilnius meeting, why should it happen afterwards?” Niinistö said.
>Lithuania is set to host a NATO summit in the Baltic nation’s capital on July 11-12.
Further reading:^1
>[U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg] discussed the upcoming NATO Defense Ministerial and progress made on decisions taken at the 2022 Madrid Summit to advance NATO’s military adaptation to better address challenges posed by Russia as well as terrorism.
>They also discussed the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, where Alliance heads of state and government will take additional steps to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense. Both reaffirmed their support for Finland and Sweden’s membership bid to join NATO before the Vilnius Summit.
Turkey won’t allow it. Especially if the US harasses them on it.
He’s right to point out this is not just about Sweden and Finland, but also about securing the functioning of the NATO accession procedure as such.
NATO must decide whether it will allow itself to be taken hostage by rogue member states or not.
I’d like for Sweden and Finland to join NATO but from a purely military pov, would it change a thing? The treaty of Lisbon included a mutual defense clause which means if Sweden or Finland security were at risk then all other EU countries would have to act and defend them and since many other EU countries are members of NATO it would most likely compel all countries of the Atlantic alliance to enter any war Sweden and Finland may be dragged into.
If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike
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Excerpt from the linked *AP* content:
>HELSINKI (AP) — The Finnish president said in an interview published Saturday that he trusts that Finland and Sweden will be admitted into NATO by July, and hinted that he wants the United States to put pressure on Turkey to approve their membership bids.
>If the issue drags on, the entire process of admitting new members into the military alliance will become questionable, President Sauli Niinistö said in an interview with the Finnish news agency STT.
>“If it doesn’t happen by the Vilnius meeting, why should it happen afterwards?” Niinistö said.
>Lithuania is set to host a NATO summit in the Baltic nation’s capital on July 11-12.
Further reading:^1
>[U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg] discussed the upcoming NATO Defense Ministerial and progress made on decisions taken at the 2022 Madrid Summit to advance NATO’s military adaptation to better address challenges posed by Russia as well as terrorism.
>They also discussed the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, where Alliance heads of state and government will take additional steps to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense. Both reaffirmed their support for Finland and Sweden’s membership bid to join NATO before the Vilnius Summit.
^1 *Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Hosted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Feb. 8 at the Pentagon*, U.S. Dept. of Defence, 8 Feb. 2023, https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3293350/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-hosted-nato-secretary-general-jens-stol/
Turkey won’t allow it. Especially if the US harasses them on it.
He’s right to point out this is not just about Sweden and Finland, but also about securing the functioning of the NATO accession procedure as such.
NATO must decide whether it will allow itself to be taken hostage by rogue member states or not.
I’d like for Sweden and Finland to join NATO but from a purely military pov, would it change a thing? The treaty of Lisbon included a mutual defense clause which means if Sweden or Finland security were at risk then all other EU countries would have to act and defend them and since many other EU countries are members of NATO it would most likely compel all countries of the Atlantic alliance to enter any war Sweden and Finland may be dragged into.
If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike