NATO countries decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of the bloc.

This is stated in the joint declaration of the NATO states, published following the results of the first day of the NATO summit in Madrid. 

“We reaffirm our commitment to NATO's open door policy.

Today we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO and agreed to sign the accession protocols,” the document says.

The declaration also says that the accession of these two countries will “strengthen their own defense”, make NATO stronger, and also ostensibly increase security in the Euro-Atlantic area.

“The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the alliance, including during the accession procedure,” the bloc states said.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced this decision of the alliance, calling it historic.

On June 28, during a press conference, he said that after inviting Helsinki and Stockholm to the bloc, the process of ratifying this decision in 30 parliaments of the countries participating in the alliance would follow.

According to Stoltenberg, the Allies' desire to approve the protocol on Finland and Sweden joining the bloc as soon as possible is "great."

“But I cannot promise anything on behalf of the parliaments of 30 states,” added the NATO Secretary General.

Stoltenberg also noted that the accession of these two countries to the bloc will radically change the situation in the Baltic region.

“After all, if you just look at the map, it becomes clear that this will change the entire security situation in the Baltic region.

NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, located next to the Baltic countries - Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, will strengthen our presence in this part of the world and in Europe as a whole,” said the NATO Secretary General.

He also called the upcoming entry of Sweden and Finland into the alliance a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Today it is difficult to imagine a faster process (joining NATO.

- RT

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And this is good, because the security situation in Europe is critical in many respects.

In addition, this is an extremely clear signal to President Putin that the doors of NATO are open,” Stoltenberg said.

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

  • © nato.int

Entry process

Recall that on May 12, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin called for the accession of their state to NATO.

On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement emphasizing that this was a "radical change in the foreign policy" of Helsinki.

As noted in the department, Finland's accession to NATO will cause serious damage to "maintaining stability and security in the northern European region."

“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security that arise in this regard,” the ministry stressed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also explained that the goal of NATO, whose members "strongly convinced the Finnish side that there was no alternative to membership in the alliance," is to continue expanding to Russian borders, "to create another flank for the military threat" to Russia.

On May 16, the Swedish government decided to submit applications for the country's entry into NATO.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also commented on this intention, repeating the thesis of a military-technical response, and also emphasizing that much will depend on the specific conditions for the integration of the state into the alliance, "including the prospect of deploying strike weapons systems of this military bloc on Swedish territory."

However, despite the warnings of the Russian side, on May 18, Finland and Sweden simultaneously applied for NATO membership.

At the same time, Turkey opposed the membership of these countries in the bloc.

Ankara explained its position primarily by the fact that the states do not support it in the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the organization of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen (FETÖ), which the Turkish authorities consider terrorist.

However, on June 28, Helsinki, Stockholm and Ankara signed a security memorandum that takes into account these Turkish concerns.

“As future NATO allies, Finland and Sweden fully support Turkey in the fight against threats to its national security.

In this regard, Finland and Sweden will not support the Kurdish YPG/Democratic Union of Syria and the organization called FETÖ in Turkey,” the document says.

It is also noted that Finland and Sweden are committed to support "the maximum possible involvement of Turkey" in current and future initiatives of the EU Common Security and Defense Policy, including PESCO (Permanent Structured Security and Defense Cooperation).

Recall that this program (PESCO) was established by the EU countries in November 2017.

25 EU member states have joined the project.

  • Turkey's talks with Finland and Sweden with the participation of the NATO Secretary General

  • © nato.int

Ankara, in turn, removed its objections to the entry of Sweden and Finland into the alliance.

“Turkey reaffirms its longstanding support for NATO's open door policy and agrees to support at the Madrid Summit 2022 the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become NATO members,” the memorandum reads.

As the Finnish president said on the day the document was signed, specific steps for his country's accession to NATO "will be agreed upon by the allies" in the bloc over the next two days.

“But now this decision is inevitable,” Niinistö said in an official statement.

Meanwhile, the head of the White House, Joe Biden, congratulated Finland, Sweden and Turkey on reaching an agreement on the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance.

According to him, the signing of the relevant memorandum paves the way for NATO expansion and will strengthen the alliance, as well as its collective security.

As Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, said earlier, the North Atlantic Alliance continues to fulfill the task laid down by default - the promotion of the alliance's infrastructure towards the Russian borders.

According to him, NATO is "a fairly aggressive bloc."

“This is a bloc that was created for the purpose of confrontation, and it continues to demonstrate its essence,” Peskov said.

He also drew attention to the fact that the Russian Defense Ministry is developing plans to strengthen the western borders in connection with the actions of the alliance.

However, according to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, the process of joining Finland and Sweden to the bloc is still far from over.

As the publication explained, at the stage of ratification, parliamentarians of NATO member countries may object to the entry of these states into the alliance, including in Turkey, if the latter considers that the conditions of the memorandum adopted by the parties are not met.

“At the same time, this process, apparently, will last at least until winter,” the newspaper notes.

"Confrontation with Russia"

As Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said, NATO’s “surprisingly prompt decision” to invite Sweden and Finland to become members of a military association suggests that the alliance does not intend to stop at nothing to contain Russia and bring its infrastructure closer to the borders of the Russian Federation.

“This is the main goal of NATO and the United States, which play a leading role in the bloc, and they pushed through this decision.

Washington, within the framework of the bloc, continues to stick to its line of escalation and confrontation with Russia.

The rapid process of Finland and Sweden joining NATO is just another confirmation of these intentions, ”Blokhin emphasized in a commentary to RT.

According to him, such a rush on the part of Washington and the NATO leadership is explained by the desire to consolidate Western allies on an anti-Russian basis as soon as possible.

“For this, they are speeding up the process of joining Finland and Sweden to the bloc in all possible ways, including by putting pressure on Ankara.

Turkey, despite its demands on Helsinki and Stockholm, has not been able to significantly slow down the decision-making process in the bloc,” the analyst said.

  • NATO symbol in front of the bloc's headquarters

  • Legion Media

  • © Panama Pictures

Director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at MGIMO Alexei Podberyozkin expressed a similar opinion.

According to him, the attempts of the United States and the leadership of NATO to accept Finland and Sweden into the bloc as soon as possible is part of the work to counter Russia.

“It is assumed that an expanded bloc under the unconditional leadership of the United States will be able to act more effectively within the framework of containing the Russian Federation.

At the same time, Helsinki and Stockholm will finally lose the sovereignty of their countries, for the sake of which the involvement of these states in the bloc was started.

Washington, as the leading force in NATO, did everything to speed up this process, wanting to put pressure on Russia.

And Ankara's claims here did not become a significant hindrance, ”Podberyozkin said in a comment to RT.

Blokhin, for his part, recalled that initially Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was categorically against the entry of these states into the bloc.

However, he changed his mind abruptly when Helsinki and Stockholm pledged not to support the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and to support Turkey's full participation in EU defense initiatives, including the PESCO program.

“Erdogan, realizing that Washington and the NATO leadership would still put pressure on him, was still able to bargain for his own.

Ankara was able to use the emerging historical moment in its favor.

This is the realism and pragmatism of the Turkish president,” the expert explained.

Blokhin also predicted that the process of completing the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO could drag on for a period of several months to six months.

“In a week, these countries will definitely not officially enter the bloc.

For ratification by 30 parliaments

Alliance countries will take time, even despite such an accelerated pace of decision-making in NATO, ”the analyst believes.

At the same time, as Blokhin noted, the military-technical response, which has already been announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry as a possible reaction to the inclusion of Finland and Sweden in NATO, will directly depend on how the bloc deploys its military infrastructure on Finnish and Swedish territories.

“Russia will respond in a similar way.

If the alliance deploys some strategic weapons there, then Moscow will place their counterparts near the borders with Finland.

At the same time, in the event of any provocations from Helsinki or Stockholm, Moscow will act asymmetrically, for this it has all the forces and means, ”the expert is sure.

In turn, Podberezkin said that Russia would be forced to respond to the entry of two new countries into the North Atlantic Alliance “on several planes at once,” since their accession to NATO would significantly increase the length of the common border between the Russian Federation and the bloc.

Moreover, the northern part of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic will be controlled by NATO, and the exit of the Russian fleet to the Baltic Sea will be difficult, the analyst added.

“Firstly, diplomatically, Russia will begin to actively expand allied ties with its partners in order to counteract NATO pressure.

Secondly, Moscow will increase its efforts in the field of defense: in particular, it will stake on the creation of effective innovation and technological systems.

At the same time, the Russian Federation already has a serious military-technical potential for response to possible provocations of Helsinki and Stockholm in the Baltic, in particular, coastal artillery and missile systems in the region

, ”

the analyst concluded.