Baerbock strengthens NATO candidates Finland and Sweden The situation is bad for the city of Bachmut

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urges Finland and Sweden to join NATO soon. “At the NATO summit in Madrid last summer, we jointly laid the foundations for accession. And of course we expect all NATO members to implement this decision without delay,” the Greens politician said on Monday during a visit to Helsinki in view of the blockade of Turkey. Hungary has not yet given permission either. All currently 30 NATO members must agree to the expansion.

Germany is promoting Finland and Sweden to join the Western military alliance, Baerbock said. Both met the agreed requirements. The minister also referred to a memorandum agreed between the two NATO candidates and Turkey in Madrid. At that moment the dispute seemed resolved and the way clear. But Turkey is still blocking the alliance’s northern expansion.

In response to the burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently threatened that Sweden could not count on Turkish support for its NATO application. He was more open to Finland. The fact that there are elections in Turkey in May also plays a role in the dispute.

Baerbock visits Northern Europe for two days – first in Helsinki, then in Stockholm on Tuesday. After speaking with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, she emphasized how historic the Northern Europeans’ decision to join after a long period of freedom of alliance was – and how beneficial it was for Germany and the other alliance partners.

“So today I want to reiterate how enriching it is for the alliance that you want to join NATO,” she told the hosts. “As a result, our alliance is gaining two valuable new members with whom we already work very, very closely.”

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May 2022 under the impression of Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine. All members must ratify the accession. 28 have already done so. Hungarian objections are not expected. Turkey, on the other hand, has been blocking for a long time. Erdogan also justifies this by saying that Sweden is not acting sufficiently against terrorist organizations. He mainly means the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK.

In Finland, a debate is now underway on whether or not to wait for Sweden if Turkey’s objections persist. Baerbock hopes both join at the same time. “Both countries have applied for membership together, so I think it is logical and right for both to join together.” There will be another NATO summit in July in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius.

Finland has a 1340 km border with Russia. This does not make the situation any easier for the EU’s northernmost country: on the one hand, it repeatedly shows its support for Ukraine with military aid, on the other hand, it pays close attention to its own security.

This is also reflected in the discussion about the delivery of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. Finland has about 200 and has indicated that they are ready for delivery. But a decision has been dragging on for a long time. “The Finnish government has not yet made the final decision,” says Haavisto.

Meanwhile, in Stockholm, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed the hope that more countries would join the Leopard coalition. He hopes Sweden will be able to do the same, he said at a press conference with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Kristersson pointed out that Sweden had already provided an artillery system and armored personnel carriers. (sda/dpa)