Application for NATO membership: the Finnish president visits Sweden

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell talk after a meeting at the President's official residence, Mantyniemi, in Helsinki, Finland May 16, 2022. via REUTERS - LEHTIKUVA

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The two Nordic countries have announced since the start of the process that they intend to join NATO together, and it is this unity that they will once again display with the Finnish President's state visit to Sweden.

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With our correspondent in Stockholm,

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö will spend two days in the Swedish capital.

There is no doubt that his speech, dedicated to extolling the merits of a “ 

 ”, will be scrutinized.

As well as his visit to the naval base of Berga, or to the MSB, the Swedish civil security agency.

Since they decided to join NATO together, Sweden and Finland have wanted to display an unfailing union, between them, but also within their own countries.

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In Finland, 76% of the population wants to join NATO.

In Sweden, the consensus is less obvious.

So Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson chose to display this unity in another way, yesterday holding a joint press conference with the leader of the right-wing opposition.

Something that hasn't been seen since the 1990s.

The two countries want

who has declared that he sees no “

 ” in their membership of NATO… Adding, however, that any military deployment would lead to an immediate response from Russia.

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• Finland

• Sweden

• NATO

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