NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Stoltenberg, who made a brief statement with Haavista and Kaikkonen before the meeting, stated that he is pleased that Turkey has started the approval process for Finland’s NATO membership in the Turkish Grand National Assembly and said, “Parliament can take a quick decision on approval.”
Stating that Hungary also welcomes the announcement that it will vote on the protocol on Finland’s accession to NATO next week, Stoltenberg said, “We welcome the progress made in Finland’s accession to the alliance. We will continue to work hard. Ensuring that Sweden becomes a full member in the near future will be a top priority. President Putin invaded Ukraine with less NATO goals in Europe and vice versa. “There will be more NATO in Europe, and the fact that both Finland and Sweden have applied and been invited to become full members shows this,” he said.
Pointing out that the border line between Russia and NATO will more than double with Finland’s accession to NATO, Stoltenberg said, “Many allies gave security assurances to both Finland and Sweden. “Therefore, it is absolutely unthinkable that there would be any threat to Finland or Sweden without NATO reacting,” he said.
