The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, ratified on Monday the resolutions of the parliament for the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO, underlining the “fundamental importance of this step for the strengthening of the Atlantic Alliance.”
In ratifying the Resolutions of the Assembly of the Republic approving the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty on the Accession of the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, signed in Brussels on July 5, 2022, the President of the The Republic underlines the fundamental importance of this step towards strengthening the Atlantic Alliance as one of the basic structures in security and defense matters”, reads a note from the Presidency of the Republic.
On Friday, the Assembly of the Republic ratified the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO, with votes against PCP and BE and in favor of PS, PSD, Chega, IL, PAN and Livre.
The Government’s proposal for resolutions on the matter —approved by the Council of Ministers on July 14— was sent to the Assembly of the Republic on July 19, after having been sent to the parliamentary commissions for Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities and to the of National Defense.
Given that the last plenary session before the parliamentary holidays was on July 21, the motions for resolutions in question were sent to September.
In both texts —one dedicated to Sweden, the other to Finland— the Government reproduces the same arguments regarding the reasons that justify the accession of the two countries to the Atlantic Alliance.
According to the executive, headed by the PS, both Finland and Sweden meet “currently the necessary conditions to join NATO, as a result of the cooperation carried out in various domains, framed in the parameters defined by the Alliance.”
The executive highlights that the accession of two Member States of the European Union (EU) to NATO “will contribute to the strengthening of the complementary relationship, in the field of security and defense, between both organizations, in a scrupulous respect for the principles enshrined in the respective treaties. constituents”.
It will also contribute to strengthening the Atlantic Alliance as one of the basic structures in terms of security and defense, which corresponds to two of the main national objectives in terms of foreign policy”, reads the texts in question, signed by the former. the Minister, António Costa, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, and by the Vice Minister and Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Sweden and Finland, two traditionally neutral countries, submitted an application to join NATO on May 28.
Following initial resistance from Turkey, NATO Heads of State and Government, meeting at a summit in Madrid, officially invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the Alliance on 29 June.
In other words, the protocols of accession of the two countries were formally assigned to the ambassadors of the 30 NATO member-states on July 5, and must now be ratified by the parliaments of all the countries of the Atlantic Alliance and communicated to the Government of the United States in order to be able to enter in force
Source: Observadora
