Despite Putin's warning, Finland, Sweden apply for NATO membership

Brussels: It's official now - Finland and Sweden have applied for  North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) membership. On Wednesday (May 18), NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that Finland and Sweden have applied for membership amid security concerns over Russia's war on Ukraine. This comes despite  Russian President Vladimir Putin's warning that Moscow would respond if NATO would deploy military infrastructure on the territories of Finland or Sweden.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters Stoltenberg said, "I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners." Stoltenberg has received the application letters from the two Nordic countries' ambassadors. The application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries. That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining. If his objections are overcome, and accession talks go as well as expected, the two could become members within a few months. The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but NATO wants to move quickly given the threat from Russia hanging over the Nordic countries' heads.

Canada, for example, says that it expects to ratify its accession protocol in just a few days. Public opinion in Finland and Sweden has shifted massively in favour of membership since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Finland and Sweden are NATO's closest partners. 

Earlier, the Kremlin had cited Putin at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in Moscow, as saying, "The expansion of military infrastructure into these territories would certainly trigger our response, which would depend on the kind of threats this would pose for us."  Putin added that the issue of NATO enlargement is largely artificial and is being used by the United States as a foreign policy tool, Xinhua news agency reported. "NATO is being used as a foreign policy instrument by one country, and this is being done quite persistently, skillfully, and very aggressively," he said, further pointing out that the situation has a deteriorating effect on international security.

(With Agency inputs)