US President Joe Biden said today that Finland and Sweden meet “all criteria” for joining NATO, welcoming the two countries’ leaders to the White House.
“Today, I’m proud to assure you that they have the full support of the United States,” Biden said, with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at his side.
The US president reiterated that the US would work with the two Nordic countries to “face any attack” they might receive in the meantime, until they join the Alliance.
By inviting the two leaders to Washington, a day after those countries formally applied to join NATO, the United States shows once again that it seeks to expand the Alliance as soon as possible. Most NATO members share this enthusiasm, but not Turkey, which has threatened to block the process.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has assured that he is “ready to talk” with Ankara about all the “concerns” he expresses. “We condemn terrorism in all its forms,” he added, referring to Turkey’s accusation that Sweden and Finland support the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson said a “dialogue” was under way with Turkey to resolve these issues.
The US so far appears very optimistic that it will be able to overcome the obstacle. Ratification of NATO enlargement at national level is expected to be a formal process. Biden said he would call on Congress to approve it “as soon as possible.”
“When new members join NATO, this is not a threat to any country. It never was. NATO’s goal is to defend against attacks,” Biden said, referring to Russia, which sees the North Atlantic Treaty as a threat.
The American president also reminded, this time addressing the American public opinion, that since the establishment of NATO, the famous article 5 has been invoked only once, which provides for the collective defense in case a member is attacked. And this happened after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the USA when “all our allies stood by us”, he stressed.
Source: Capital
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