Tag Archives: NATO

Axois reports: The Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Tuesday. The vote that brings Sweden closer to achieving NATO membership comes after a series of delays in its attempt to become part of the alliance, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s initial refusal to accept Sweden’s bid. A country’s admission into NATO must be …

Reuters reports: Finland will on Monday Dec. 18 sign a defence cooperation agreement with the United States, the Finnish government said on Thursday, to grant the U.S. military broad access across the Nordic country to the vicinity of its long border with Russia. Russia’s Nordic neighbour Finland became the NATO military alliance’s newest member earlier this year in response to …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday submitted a bill approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification, his office said, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it clears the way for it to join the Western defence alliance. Erdogan pleased his NATO allies at a summit in July by promising to send the legislation to parliament when …

NBC News reports: NATO has extended an invitation to Ukraine to join the defense alliance, but only once all 31 members of the alliance have agreed to it and the conditions have been met, Stoltenberg said at a press conference today. “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius. “I’m glad to announce … that President Erdogan has agreed to forward the accession protocol for Sweden to the grand national assembly as soon as …

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said on Monday that the European Union should open the way for Turkey to join the bloc before Turkey allows Sweden to join NATO, adding a surprising new condition that could further stall the military alliance’s efforts to expand. Mr. Erdogan’s latest demand came a day before the opening …

Reuters reports: Moscow cannot stop Ukraine from becoming a NATO member, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, as divisions among allies about the speed of Kyiv’s accession became apparent only weeks before a decisive mid-July summit in Vilnius. “All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg told reporters as NATO foreign ministers …

Politico Europe reports: When he ran for president, Joe Biden called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an “autocrat” and said the U.S should support Erdogan’s opponents. Now, with Erdoğan leading in a tight runoff race for the Turkish presidency, Biden and his aides are a chastened bunch. When they’re willing to comment at all, they insist they’re not picking sides. …

Reuters reports: Finland formally joined the NATO military alliance on Tuesday in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drawing a threat from Moscow of “countermeasures”. Finland’s accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in …

The Associated Press reports: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Finland will become the 31st member of the military alliance on Tuesday. “From tomorrow, Finland will be a full member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels. Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to U.S. Secretary of State Antony …

The New York Times reports: Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Social Democratic Party lost a tight election in Finland on Sunday to a center-right party that focused on economic concerns. The National Coalition Party, led by Petteri Orpo, 53, captured the most votes in the parliamentary election, followed by the right-wing Finns Party and the Social Democrats. But no …

The Associated Press reports: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed the military alliance’s commitment to Ukraine on Tuesday, saying that the war-torn nation will one day become a member of the world’s largest security organization. Stoltenberg’s remarks came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his NATO counterparts gathered in Romania to drum up urgently needed support for Ukraine aimed …

Politico Europe reports: Hungary’s government supports the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland and has submitted the ratification documents to the National Assembly, Minister Gergely Gulyás told reporters at a briefing on Saturday. Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said the expansion of NATO to include the two Nordic countries would be ratified by mid-December at the …

Axios reports: The Biden administration announced Friday it will nominate an ambassador-at-large for the Arctic, raising the profile of American policymaking for the region. The move comes at a time of increased militarization in the far north, with NATO members squaring off against Russia, and at a time of rapid climate change that is making the Arctic more accessible. In …

The New York Times reports: The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a treaty that would expand NATO to include Finland and Sweden, with Republicans and Democrats linking arms to pave the way for one of the most significant expansions of the alliance in decades amid Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine. The vote was 95 to 1, with only Senator Josh …

The Hill reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Monday said he would vote against Finland’s and Sweden’s bids to join NATO, a move that would go against most of his colleagues from both sides of the aisle. In an op-ed published by The National Interest, Hawley says the United States shouldn’t expand its security commitments in Europe due to a …

The Associated Press reports: The 30 NATO allies signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, sending the membership bids of the two nations to the alliance capitals for legislative approvals — and possible political trouble in Turkey. The move further increases Russia’s strategic isolation in the wake of its invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February …

Sky News reports: Turkey, Sweden and Finland have signed a memorandum for the two Nordic states to join NATO, removing a Turkish block to the accession process. It comes after the leaders of the three nations spoke at a NATO summit in Madrid. The traditionally neutral nations decided to apply for NATO membership following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of …

Reuters reports: NATO will massively boost the number of troops on high readiness to over 300,000, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, with allies set to adopt a new strategy describing Moscow as a direct threat four months into the Ukraine war. “Russia has walked away from the partnership and the dialogue that NATO has tried to establish with Russia …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday told his counterpart from Belarus that Moscow would supply Minsk with missile systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the Russian foreign ministry said. At a meeting with Putin in St Petersburg, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko expressed concern about the “aggressive”, “confrontational” and “repulsive” policies of its neighbours Lithuania and Poland. He asked …