The general secretary of the OTANJens Stoltenberg, indicated that the military organization is considering increasing its presence in the Baltic region and even deploying troops in Sweden and Finland, to guarantee the security of the two Scandinavian countries from the moment they apply to join the Atlantic Alliance.
In the midst of the debate on the accession of Sweden y Finland to OTANand the doubts about the months of ratification in which the mutual defense clause could not be invoked, leaving them unprotected against reprisals from Russia, Stoltenberg He said that the allies are “aware” of this concern and are working to provide security guarantees to the two candidates.
“There will be an interim time between applying and becoming a full member. It is clear that the membership of Sweden and Finland does it matter to the OTAN and we will seek ways to provide security guarantees, including increasing the presence of the OTAN in the Baltic and in and around Sweden and Finland, of course in consultation with them”he claimed.
For all these reasons, the political head of the OTAN He announced that he is prepared to hold talks with both candidates to discuss this interim period to increase the military presence in the region “by land, sea and air”in addition to increasing cooperation against cyber threats.
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In any case, the former Norwegian Prime Minister has defended that the allies are committed to a rapid process and have already promised to speed up the ratification process, ensuring that “all members” of the OTAN they are aware of “the historical magnitude” of the step that Helsinki and Stockholm are going to take.
Besides, Stoltenberg highlighted at the press conference that “Ukraine can win this war”. “Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow had anticipated. They have failed to take kyiv. They are withdrawing from the outskirts of Kharkiv and their offensive in the Donbás is paralyzed Russia it is not achieving its strategic objectives,” he said.
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Stoltenberg He thus cited the “courageous” defense of the Ukrainian troops and the help of the allies “for billions of dollars”. All this means “reinforcing NATO’s defensive deterrence capacity”, he stressed.
For her part, the host of the meeting, the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbocl, pointed out that Germany “will do everything” so that there is no “grey area” in the path of Sweden and Finland to the military alliance, that supposes a vulnerability of both Scandinavian nations.
POSSIBLE LOCKDOWN OF TURKEY
Thus, Stoltenberg also responded to the misgivings expressed by Turkey, which threatens to block the entry of Sweden and Finland alleging links between the two countries and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization by Ankara.
The Secretary General affirmed, after maintaining different contacts, that the intention of Turkey “It is not to block” the entry process for Helsinki and Stockholm, and in any case it has opened up to address its concerns with the Turkish authorities, “so that it cannot delay the process”.
“We have shown that we can sit down and find a consensus,” he said, noting that his plan is to soon forge the unit that allows the express entry of Finland y Sweden in the Atlantic Alliance.
On the margins of the meeting in Berlin, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, defended that the support in principle for the open door policy of the OTAN although he has highlighted the allegations that both countries provide aid to the PKK.
“It’s not that we’re opposed to NATO expansion, but people who meet with terrorists can’t belong here, and we keep it that way.”argued the Turkish minister, while also mentioning the country’s limitations on military exports.
NATO foreign ministers met this Saturday and Sunday in Berlin in an informal summit in which they discussed how to continue coordinating military support to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, with the debate on the accession of Sweden and Finland in full swing.