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Finland and Sweden move closer to NATO membership — Analysis

Two Nordic countries have signed the accession protocol, which has to now be ratified and ratified across all of 30 members.

After Tuesday’s signing of accession protocols by all thirty member countries of NATO, the Ambassadors of Finland and Sweden from both Sweden and Finland have made one step closer towards becoming NATO full members.

The accession ceremony was held at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde.

After Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership earlier in the year, they both decided to abandon their traditional neutrality. They claimed that it was required due to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.

Although most members of the bloc welcomed the Nordic countries to the alliance immediately, Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan resisted their requests. He accused Sweden and Finland, accusing them of being safe havens for Kurdish militants. “terrorism.”

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Ankara warned that it could torpedo the countries’ bids to join the bloc unless they condemned and extradited members of “terrorist”Organizations lifted embargoes on Turkey’s arms trade.

Turkey dropped its objection last week when the Nordic countries reached a 10-point agreement in which they agreed to comply with extradition requests, lift export controls, and stop support for terrorist organizations.

However, Erdogan has warned that he could block the process again if Ankara’s demands are not met.

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