The president of the United States, Joe Biden, and the leaders of the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark) They held this Thursday in Finland a summit of great symbolic content and with which they want to show Russia the strength of NATO.
The meeting took place in the “Hall of Mirrors” of the Finnish Presidential Palacea high-ceilinged room, with a chandelier in the center and where the leaders were seated at a horseshoe-shaped table, headed by Biden and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, who acted as host.
Five years ago, in this same room, former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) met with his counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
That was the last time an American leader visited Helsinki. Biden, with the flags of the Nordic countries in the background instead of Russia, highlighted the “values” of freedom and equality that unite the United States and the Nordic countries.
“The nations that are sitting at this table not only share a common history, but we also share the same challenges,” Biden stressed.
In this sense, the US president emphasized the naturale“historic” za of the NATO summit that concluded on Wednesday in the Lithuanian city of Vilnius after two days of meetings and in which Finland participated for the first time as a full member.
The nations that are sitting at this table not only share a common history, but also share the same challenges.
Furthermore, a day before the summit, Turkey announced that it would lift its veto on Sweden’s NATO candidacy, so that country could soon follow in Finland’s footsteps.
Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia, became NATO’s 31st member in April this year.
Both Finland and Sweden applied to join the Alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an event that changed public opinion in both countries and led them to abandon the neutrality they had maintained for three decades.
The United States has played an important role in the process of integrating Finland and Sweden into the bloc, and the Swedish minister himself, Ulf Kristersson, made reference to the constant contact he has maintained in recent weeks with
Biden, making a joke about it.
“The truth is that I see him more than my own family. And I love it”said Kristersson with a laugh. In fact, Kristersson met Biden on July 5 at the White House, and the two spent the last two days together in Vilnius during the Nato summit, only to now meet again in Finland.
Summit host Niinisto also exchanged a few pleasantries with Biden, but set the event a more solemn tone by stating that the sole goal of the summit between the US and the Nordic leaders is to “secure the future” in terms of security. , environment and technology. On the table, the leaders have various issues.
A major one is Russia, Nato and the war in Ukraine, but they also plan to tackle artificial intelligence, climate change and collaboration on critical minerals, used in solar panels and electric vehicle batteries.
This is the third summit in history between the United States and the leaders of the Nordic countries. The most recent took place in 2016, when then-President Barack Obama (2008-2017) received the rulers of those nations at the White House.
EFE
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