It took almost eleven months for Finland officially become its 31st member today NATO. The application has been submitted government under the now defeated elections last Sunday Sana Marine, May 17, 2022, just a day after neighboring Sweden and at a time when the war in Ukraine was already showing that it would not end soon. On the 74th anniversary of the signing of NATO’s founding treaty, Finns will see their country’s flag at noon, completing the circle of 30 member states of the North Atlantic Alliance, in the courtyard of the organization’s headquarters in Brussels.

“The Alliance Will React”

Reasonably cg NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, spoke yesterday of a “historic day” for the alliance, hastening to reassure Stockholm that it is “not alone”, even saying that in the “unthinkable” event of a threat or military attack on Sweden, “the allies will respond”. However, he did not specify the form of their response to such an event, since a non-member cannot invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty. And despite the fact that Turkey was the “elephant in the room” at yesterday’s NATO GC briefing, in view of today’s meeting of foreign ministers, Jens Stoltenberg avoided, however, a harsh message to Ankara, which still keeps the Scandinavian country in the “corridors” of the organization.

He also did not name a timetable for Sweden’s accession, despite calling it a top priority and previously acknowledging that Stockholm has fully complied with the conditions stemming from a tripartite agreement with Turkey and Finland struck last year in Madrid.

“No” for Ukraine

The Norwegian official also repeated several times NATO’s basic principle of “open doors” as a “response” to Russia, which, he pointed out, has achieved opposite goals as the alliance further expands along its borders. However, in the case of Ukraine, he ruled out – once again – the possibility of its accession, at least in the near future. The priority is “the predominance of Ukraine as a sovereign and free nation” over Russia, he said, while stressing continued negotiations with Kiev to gradually “transition” its armed forces “out of the post-Soviet era.” according to their NATO standards.

After all, the main topic of today’s meeting of the NATO Special Committee with Ukraine in the presence of Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba will be the continuation of its support “for as long as you like”, as well as the development of a more structured partnership, Mr. Stoltenberg noted.

“Starting from 2%”

At the meeting of foreign ministers, as usual, an increase in defense spending will be discussed in order for all member states to reach 2% of their GDP, with the foreign minister. to reiterate that the percentage is the “starting point” and not the “peak”. At the same time, while China was already labeled a “threat” at the previous summit, NATO foreign ministers “expect to look into its growing rapprochement with Russia” and Mr. Beijing. The name of the Norwegian successor, whose NATO term has already been extended once, remains a closely guarded secret. According to information, the issue will concern the upcoming summit in Vilnius, next July. Diplomatic sources say that perhaps this time the new cg of the alliance will be from a country “washed by the Atlantic.”