On Wednesday 18 May the NATO-accredited ambassadors of Finland, Klaus Korhonen, and Sweden, Axel Wernhoff, simultaneously submitted their applications for NATO membership to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“You are our closest partners and your membership in NATO would strengthen our common security”, Stoltenberg said at the presentation of the applications. He called the submission of the applications a “historic step”.
“All Allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together and this is a historic moment that we must seize”, added the Secretary General.
NATO’s 30 members must now unanimously approve the applications before accession negotiations can begin. Turkey has expressed reservations about these nominations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)