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Joe Biden welcomes Sweden & Finland's NATO bids, promises full US backing
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said that Finland and Sweden have officially applied to join the world’s biggest military alliance.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed the applications made by Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Following talks with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Biden said the US government is extending “full, total, and complete backing” to the decision made by the Nordic countries.
Addressing a press conference, Biden said he is “proud to welcome and offer the strong support for the applications of two great democracies, and two close, highly capable partners to join the strongest, most powerful, defensive alliance in the history of the world.”
The US president further said the decision amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war shows that “NATO is still relevant as an alliance”. He further added that the Nordic countries “would enhance the security of the alliance”.
“They meet every NATO requirement and then some and having two new NATO members in the high north will enhance the security of our alliance and deepen our security cooperation across the board,” Biden said.
Also read: 'Happy we’ve taken same path': Swedish PM on country's joint NATO bid with Finland
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said that Finland and Sweden have officially applied to join the world’s biggest military alliance. Stoltenberg “warmly welcomed” the requests by the two countries and told the media that “this is a good day at a critical moment for our security”.
The application will be weighed by the 30 member-countries and the process is reportedly expected to take around two weeks.
The two countries have been planning to join NATO since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Meanwhile, Russia has issued several warnings over Finland and Sweden joining NATO. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday said the West should not have any “illusions” that the Kremlin will simply put up with the Nordic expansion of the alliance.
(With agency inputs)
