NATO admits accelerated accession of Sweden and Finland

The representative of the North Atlantic Alliance said that the procedure of coordinating applications could take two weeks. After that, each of the 30 member states must agree on accession protocols.

If Sweden and Finland decide to apply to join NATO, the approval procedure will only take a couple of weeks. This was reported by dpa news agency on Monday, May 9, citing a representative of the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels.

The process from application to signing accession protocols could take two weeks. "We are not going to wait for the summit in Madrid to make a decision," the spokesman said.

Once the accession process is completed, the protocols must be ratified by each of the 30 member states of the alliance. This may take several months.

However, taking into account the threat to the states posed by Russia, all NATO members are likely to make efforts to complete the ratification process as soon as possible, dpa said.

NATO membership is supported by 76 percent of Finns

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, polls in both Sweden and Finland show that the question of NATO membership has, for the first time, gained the support of a majority of residents.

In Finland, according to a survey published on May 9 by radio station Yle, 76 percent of respondents are in favor of membership in the alliance. This is the highest figure ever. Twelve percent were against the idea, and another 11 percent were undecided. In March, the decision to join NATO was supported by 62% of the country's residents.

Source: DW