Joe Biden’s slip makes Switzerland a NATO member
The American president considered our country a member of the Military Alliance during a press conference on Thursday, before correcting the situation.
“Switzerland … My God … My God … I definitely really want NATO to expand,” said Joe Biden after his slip to correct the situation.
AFP/Brendan Smialowski
Switzerland a member of NATO? In a slip on Thursday, Joe Biden considered the most unlikely diplomatic scenario, namely participation in Switzerland’s fiercely neutral Western Military Alliance.
The American president, during a press conference at the end of a NATO summit in Madrid, recounted the steps leading up to the historic decision that the Alliance has just taken, namely to expand to Finland and to Sweden.
The American president immediately realizes his mistake and continues, tongue-in-cheek: “Switzerland… My God… My God… I definitely really want NATO to expand.” In front of the amused journalists, he specifies that it is of “Sweden” that he wants to speak.
The decision of the two Nordic countries, historically non-aligned militarily, is a major step for the defense organization. An accession of Switzerland, this country synonymous with neutrality, is on the other hand diplomatic science fiction.
And this despite some recent initiatives which have revived the debate in Switzerland on this sacrosanct principle: the Alpine country has rallied to European sanctions against Russia, and it will also sit for two years as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Posted today at 8:01 p.m.
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