Stoltenberg: Finland and Sweden can quickly join NATO
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that Finland and Sweden will be able to quickly join NATO if they decide to apply for membership.
“If they decide to apply for accession, Finland and Sweden will be welcome, and I expect the pace of the process to be fast,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on April 28th.
He added that there are arrangements that can be made for the transitional period between the submission of the request by the two countries and until the official ratification in the parliaments of the 30 member states of the alliance.
Russia had warned Finland and Sweden of the consequences of moving forward with joining the alliance, and confirmed that it would reinforce its western borders in response to the possible move.
O. al-Mohammad