Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson said 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.
Speaking before the second day of the meeting of allied defense ministers, Jonson stressed that his talks with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had resulted in a commitment for Sweden and Finland to join NATO at the same time.
«We all agreed 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 acknowledged that the issue now depends on Ankara, which maintains a veto on Sweden on the grounds of lack of cooperation on anti-terrorism.
Along the same lines, his Finnish colleague, Mikko Savola, assured that he hopes that the country will be able to join NATO «soon» and emphasized that 28 of the 30 allies have already ratified the accession process.
After the option of taking steps alone gained ground in Finland, in the face of the persistent Turkish blockade of Sweden, the minister stressed that Helsinki continues to defend joint accession. «It is better for Finland, for Sweden and for NATO,» he said, reiterating that the important thing is that both Nordic countries become members of the military organization «as soon as possible».
In the face of Turkey’s reticence, NATO is now setting 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 ratification until the summer.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
