“We will be flying the Finnish flag here at the NATO headquarters for the first time. It will be a good day for the security of Finland, for the security of the Nordic countries and for NATO as a whole,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Monday.
“Sweden will also be safer as a result,” he added, referring to the country whose admission is currently blocked by Turkey.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, last year Finland and neighboring Sweden jointly decided to apply for admission to the Alliance after long years of military neutrality. But NATO expansion must be approved by all existing members, and Turkey initially objected to the expansion.
Ankara is particularly bothered by Sweden’s lax attitude towards alleged terrorist organizations. Above all, to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned in Turkey, to the Kurdish YPG militia or followers of the cleric Fethullah Gülen.
Finland originally talked about joining NATO only together with Sweden, but now the process of accepting two new members has been separated.
Putin did not want the expansion of NATO, now for the first time an American reconnaissance plane is flying over the Finnish border
Foreign
