“On Finland - NATO has always supported the fundamental right of every nation to choose his own path. And that includes of course, the right for Finland and also Sweden to decide to not aspire for membership, as has been their policy for decades, and we have totally respected that. But of course we also will respect if Finland decides to change and to say that we are now ready to apply for membership. This is a Finnish and only a Finnish decision, sovereign decision by the sovereign democratic state to make. We will respect it regardless of the conclusion.
Finland is a very close partner. There are no other partners who are closer to NATO than Finland and Sweden. I visited Finland and Sweden last fall, and I saw how Finnish and Swedish troops meet the NATO standards, how closely they were able to work together - Finland and Sweden and NATO troops – and, of course, if they apply, I expect that they will be very welcomed and that we'll find a way to quickly agree the accession protocol and follow up on a membership of Finland. But again, it is for Finland to decide and we will wait until Finland has made any decision on the issue of membership”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during the press conference.
