Status: 05/09/2022 5:28 p.m
The governing parties of Sweden and Finland want to decide this week on their position on their countries’ NATO membership. The accession formalities could be completed within two weeks.
Sweden and Finland joining NATO could happen very quickly. Assuming both countries decide to join NATO, there could be as little as two weeks between the application and the signing of the accession protocols, said a NATO official in Brussels. One day per country is probably enough for the accession negotiations themselves.
“We will not wait for the Madrid summit to make decisions,” the official said, referring to speculation that the decision to admit the two countries could be announced at a meeting of heads of state and government in the Spanish capital at the end of June.
After the admission process has been completed, the accession protocols still have to be ratified by all 30 NATO countries. Although this could take a few months, it is considered likely that the member states will hurry up against the background of Russian threats against the accession candidates. In Germany, the Bundestag must approve the admission.
decisions this week
Before that, however, the parliaments of Finland and Sweden must decide to join. This is considered likely because, for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, majorities of the population in polls have voted in favor of their countries being members of the defense alliance. In Finland, according to an opinion poll commissioned by broadcaster Yle, the popularity currently reached 76 percent of those surveyed.
Approval therefore reaches across all age and social classes. Only twelve percent of the population are against it, eleven percent are undecided. In March, the response was still 62 percent. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö wants to announce his position on a possible accession by Thursday at the latest, he had announced. The ruling Social Democrats want to announce their decision on Saturday.
A day later, Sunday, the Swedish Social Democrats also want to explain their position on joining NATO. So far they have always been against it, but last week Prime Minister and party leader Magdalena Andersson declared that the Ukraine conflict was forcing her country to reassess this issue. She described Russia’s attack on Ukraine as a “deep, drastic turning point”. Should the governing party now decide to join NATO, the path would presumably be clear because there would then be a broad parliamentary majority.
Known Partners
Sweden and Finland have been neutral for decades, but since the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine there has been an intense debate in both countries about joining NATO – eventually public opinion turned. However, the countries were already close partners in the military alliance before that. NATO units and the armies of Sweden and Finland have repeatedly practiced maneuvers together in the past.