U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed that Washington is confident that Finland and Sweden will be approved soon for membership in NATO despite ratification delays in allies Turkey and Hungary.
Blinken highlighted that the two countries had proved their abilities and commitments to join the alliance.
“As their membership process continues, the United States is fully committed to Finland and Sweden’s accession,” he said. “I’m confident that NATO will formally welcome Finland and Sweden as members soon.”
His statements came following a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom.
In the same vein, Blinken indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to go to war with Ukraine had backfired if he truly intended to push back on NATO expansion.
“As Sweden and Finland prepare to join NATO, we know that he’s failed at weakening our alliance,” he noted. “Indeed, he’s only made NATO stronger and bigger.”
On his part, Haavisto pointed out that discussions with Turkey over the PKK have gone well so far, although there was not still a date for the Turkish parliament to consider the expansion.
“Of course, our hope is that this decision should come from Turkey rather sooner than later,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, Billstrom revealed that he would soon travel to Turkey to continue talks on the matter. “I hope that the outcome of that discussion will also bring us forward,” he said.
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