NATO Formally Invite Sweden, Finland To Join Alliance

NATO Leaders Officially Invite Sweden, Finland to Join Alliance

Sputnik News

The invitation was made possible after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his objection to the Nordic nations' membership in the bloc. Ankara held up Finland and Sweden's NATO bids for weeks over the countries' sheltering of Kurdish paramilitaries Turkey classifies as 'terrorists'.

NATO formally invited Finland and Sweden into the alliance on Wednesday at its Madrid summit.

"Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols. In any accession to the Alliance, it is of vital importance that the legitimate security concerns of all Allies are properly addressed. We welcome the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Turkiye, Finland, and Sweden to that effect," the bloc said in its official summit declaration.

The alliance stressed that the Nordic countries' security was "of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process," and characterized the invitation as a reaffirmation of its "commitment to [the] Open Door Policy" on alliance membership.

Russia has expressed concerns about the two countries' entry bid, including the prospects of the Baltic Sea being turned into a 'NATO lake', and the potential militarization of the 1,340 km long shared border it has with Finland. Last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warnedthat "the latest expansion of NATO will not make our continent more stable and secure."