Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde and the ambassadors of 30 NATO countries signed accession protocols for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in an official ceremony at NATO headquarters, a TASS on-site correspondent reported on Tuesday, TASS reports.
Finland and Sweden will join the alliance after the documents are ratified by all NATO states. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO’s door remains open to European democracies who are ready and willing to contribute to shared security. "With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger and our people will be even safer, as we face the biggest security crisis in decades," he said.
Finnish and Swedish top diplomats thanked NATO countries and expressed hope for the swiftest ratification of the documents, vowing to contribute to the alliance’s development.
On July 4, Finland and Sweden opened talks on joining NATO and completed them in one round which is an absolute record in the alliance’s history since the negotiation process normally takes years.
