NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expects that the process of Sweden’s accession to the military-political bloc will be completed by July – on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius. It will take place July 11-12.
“I am absolutely sure that Sweden will become a member of NATO. I will work hard to make this happen by the summit in Vilnius,” Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, May 10, in an interview with the TV channel CNN. At the same time, the Secretary General of the Alliance emphasized that Sweden has already received a number of bilateral guarantees from the countries participating in the military-political bloc to protect its territory, writes TASS.
After Finland joined NATO, Sweden is surrounded on all sides by members of the Alliance, Stoltenberg noted. “Therefore, it is absolutely inconceivable that Sweden could be attacked without any reaction from NATO,” he concluded.
Finland and Sweden applied to join the Alliance in May 2022. In early July, protocols were signed on the membership of the two countries in NATO. In April of this year, Finland officially became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance.
At the same time, the Turkish and Hungarian authorities have not yet approved Sweden’s application. Ankara has repeatedly stated that the country’s entry into NATO depends on its actions on the issue of restricting the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK, a group banned in Turkey).
In early April, Stoltenberg announced that Sweden met all conditions to join the North Atlantic Alliance. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on May 7 that so far there has been no progress in the process of the country’s membership in NATO. The adoption of a law in Sweden on terrorism is not enough, the department stressed.
For the entry of new members into NATO, the consent of all states that are part of the military-political bloc is required.
