The United States ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, assured this Tuesday that the allies hope that the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO can be resolved “in weeks or months, not in years“, despite the Turkish blockade.
(Read: NATO: Sweden has taken “important steps” to meet Turkish demands)
“I think the allies, they all hope that this is something that we can resolve in weeks and months, not in years,” the diplomat said at a press conference ahead of the Alliance defense ministers’ meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels.
(You are interested in: The Russian territory within Europe that will be surrounded by NATO countries)
He added that “many” of the allies “they hoped that they would see” Finland and Sweden participate in the NATO summit at the end of the month in Madrid “as guests at the table with the other leaders.”
“We don’t know if that will ever happen, but I think what has been encouraging is hearing what capitals are doing to try and speed up the ratification process,” he said.
He stated that “behind the scenes” at NATO there is “strong support for these two countries, an interest in moving this as soon as humanly possible.”
We also have an interest in working with Turkey on the concerns that have been raised
Finland and Sweden have applied to join NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the accession process has been complicated by concerns from Turkey, a member of the Alliance that accuses Helsinki and, above all, Stockholm, of maintaining a reception policy for Kurdish militants.
The thirty current members of the transatlantic organization must unanimously support the entry of new countries, for which Ankara’s approval is needed.
The US diplomat assured that Finland and Sweden will make the Alliance “stronger”.
Asked about the critical statements that have been made on some occasions by the Government of Ukraine regarding the delivery of weapons to the country by members of the Alliance, Smith replied that “individual NATO allies have been extremely receptive in the last months”.
“We have met countless times with the Ukrainian counterparts, be it the foreign minister, the defense minister or President (Volodymyr) Zelensky joining by video conference,” he said, saying the list of Ukrainians’ needs on weapons It changes as the conflict progresses.
However, he recalled that the Alliance as such does not provide assistance to kyiv, but individual countries do.
Nordic concerns
For her part, the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, warned this Tuesday of the risk that the process of joining Sweden and Finland in NATO stall if an agreement is not reached with Turkey, which vetoes its entry into the Alliance, before the Madrid summit on the 29th and 30th.
“If we don’t solve these issues before Madrid, there is a risk that the situation will freeze for a while,” Marin told a news conference in Bommersvik (Sweden).
It is very important to find a solution before the Madrid summit, because I think the time is now
Both countries presented their application for membership in mid-May, which must be approved by all members, but Turkey has vetoed it because it considers that they are too lukewarm with what they describe as Kurdish terrorism.
Marin believes that these are “misunderstandings” that the diplomatic delegations of their countries are trying to clarify in the negotiations they are holding with Ankara and that, for the moment, have not produced results.
“It is also Turkey’s responsibility to find solutions at this stage,” said Marin, who recalled that before submitting its application for membership, Ankara did not see any problem in the accession of the two Nordic countries, which have put an end to decades of non-alignment. in a historic turn, justified by the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the change in the security situation in Europe.
Andersson was also hopeful of finding a solution before the Madrid summit, although this Monday both she and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had highlighted in a joint appearance that there was no deadline for negotiations.
“Of course we want this process to be agile, many NATO countries see that the Alliance will be stronger with Sweden and Finland as members,” Andersson said after participating in a meeting of Nordic Social Democratic leaders.
Moldova, waiting for the candidacy
At the European level, Moldova is also expecting “positive signals” from the European Union (EU) about the status of a candidate for entry into the community family, said Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu.
“The European Commission will announce its recommendations on June 17 and then the EU members will study them for a few days to make another recommendation on behalf of the Twenty-seven on June 24,” Popescu said in an interview with PROTV-Chisinau.
We hope to have a clear perspective of entry into the European Union
Subsequently, he explained, negotiations on Moldova’s entry into the EU would begin. As for French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the former Soviet republic, scheduled for tomorrow, Popescu said it is “a powerful signal” of support for Chisinau’s European aspirations.
The head of European diplomacy insisted that joining the European Union is an “absolute priority” for his country. However, he assured that at the current stage he does not see contradictions in Moldova’s permanence within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a bloc that emerged in the post-Soviet space, and its desire to approach Brussels.
“The Government will study the laws and international agreements with the CIS to analyze whether they contradict the norms and demands of the EU“, said.
The Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, visited the Elysee in May, when Macron warned that some incidents in that country raised fears that the conflict in Ukraine could spread to its neighbor.
Macron’s visit seeks to emphasize support for Moldova, a country that has taken in many Ukrainian refugees and is facing “a serious economic situation”, with high inflation and energy supply problems.
According to a recent poll, 56% of Moldovans support the country’s entry into the European Union, an option opposed by 28%. On the other hand, only 24% of citizens welcome the hypothetical entry of their country into NATO.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
More world news
– Who are the British who were banned by Russia from entering their country?
– Cosimo Di Lauro, the boss of ‘Gomorra’, dies in prison
– Biden will go to Saudi Arabia on his first official trip to the Middle East
#United #States #expects #Sweden #Finland #join #NATO