The Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, lamented this Sunday the delays in the ratification of the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO, defending that the process should already be concluded.
“The process is taking longer than we would like. We should have been accepted by now and the ratification process should have been completed,” Sanna Marin said in an interview on Finnish public radio, quoted by the EFE news agency.
However, the official stressed that despite the delays, the security of the Finns is not in danger, stressing the importance of Finland and Sweden being able to join NATO at the same time.
With the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year, Finland and Sweden submitted a joint proposal to join the Atlantic Alliance in May, abandoning decades of military nonalignment.
This accession requires the unanimous acceptance of the 30 NATO member states, which has been ratified by all, including Portugal, with the exception of Turkey and Hungary.
Ankara accuses the two countries, most vehemently Sweden, of serving as a refuge for militants close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as well as harboring representatives of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), active in Syria, which Turkey considers to be terrorist organizations.
Last week, on a visit to Ankara, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson pledged to respond to the concerns expressed by Turkey in the fight against terrorism, with the aim of removing all obstacles to Sweden’s entry into the NATO.
The Swedish Parliament also voted last week on an amendment to the constitution allowing Sweden to toughen anti-terrorism laws, a move demanded by Turkey.
Security experts pointed out that the amendment, which will enter into force in January, will facilitate the search for members of the PKK, classified on the list of terrorist organizations, among others, by Sweden itself and the European Union (EU).
Hungary already postponed, on Thursday, the ratification of the accession of Sweden and Finland to 2023. The Hungarian parliament will rule on this matter, voting on it “in its first session” next year, declared the nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
Orbán, however, assured the two northern European countries of his support to join NATO.
Source: Observadora
