(Washington) The United States showed strong support for Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership bids on Wednesday, promising to stand by them in the event of a Russian “threat” and taking action to lift the Turkish opposition.
Updated yesterday at 5:19 p.m.
“I warmly welcome and strongly support the historic candidacies of Finland and Sweden,” said President Joe Biden, who is to welcome Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to the White House on Thursday.
In a statement, the Democrat said he “looks forward to working with the US Congress and with our NATO allies to quickly bring Finland and Sweden into the strongest defense alliance in history”.
The two Nordic countries submitted their formal candidacies on Wednesday.
Historically non-aligned, they have made a dramatic turnaround since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, which also swayed their previously reluctant public opinion to join the Atlantic Alliance.
Stockholm and Helsinki have therefore chosen to place themselves under the military protection of other Europeans and above all of the United States, against Moscow, which has not hesitated to attack one of its neighbours.
Applications must go through two key stages, a process that can take several months: the signing of the accession protocol and then parliamentary ratification by each of the 30 Member States.
“Confidence” and “optimism”
Almost all of them enthusiastically welcomed the dual request from Finland and Sweden. In Washington, the green light from Congress should be a formality as the political class is almost unanimous.
But Turkey is waving the threat of a veto to this enlargement.
Ankara accuses Sweden of being “the breeding ground for terrorist organizations” such as the Kurdish PKK and criticizes the two countries for not approving requests for the extradition of people accused of being “terrorists” as well as of having frozen arms exports to Turkey.
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, who spoke by telephone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, mainly met on Wednesday in New York with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to try to unblock the situation.
“We understand their concerns related to security”, but those of Turkey “must also obtain a response”, pleaded the Turkish minister, while saying he was ready to “discuss it with friends and allies, including the United States. “.
“We want to overcome the differences through dialogue and diplomacy,” said Mevlut Cavusoglu more generally, seeming to leave the door open to a solution.
After the meeting, which he described as “extremely positive”, he spoke of American mediation. “Blinken assured that the United States would convey the necessary messages to allay Turkey’s concerns,” he said.
In Washington, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was also “very optimistic”.
“We are confident” about “the possibility of responding to Turkey’s concerns,” he told reporters at the White House.
“Security Guarantees”
Several experts believe that Ankara intends to obtain compensation in exchange for its support for the countries of Northern Europe, for example in terms of American armament – Turkey is negotiating the acquisition of new F-16 fighter planes, a file which progress “in a very positive way” according to Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The other outstanding question concerned security guarantees, in other words what the American army is prepared to do to fly to the aid of new candidates in the event of a Russian threat between now and their formal entry into NATO.
Without going into detail, American officials made it known that they would support the two countries.
“While their applications for NATO membership are considered, the United States will work with Finland and Sweden to remain vigilant against any threats to our common security, and to deter and respond to any aggression or threats of ‘aggression,’ warned Joe Biden.
US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin also received his Swedish counterpart Peter Hultqvist to put this support to music.
The US military “knows the Swedish and Finnish forces very well”, reassured a senior Pentagon official.
“We operate with them, we conduct exercises with them”, “so providing security guarantees will not be a great difficulty for us”, he added, referring in particular to the possibility of new joint military maneuvers.