Committee proposes ratification of NATO accession of Finland, Sweden

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee discussed on Wednesday a bill to ratify the protocols on Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO and decided to propose to the National Assembly to pass it. The committee proposed that the bill be discussed at an emergency session on Thursday.

Before today’s 13:1 vote, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Samuel Žbogar told the parliamentary committee that Finland and Sweden had decided to join NATO in light of the changed security circumstances.

This was due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Žbogar said, while noting that the two countries had already been close NATO partners, with which the alliance had developed a high level of military interoperability and dialogue.

Sweden and Finland, which had hitherto been neutral countries, officially applied for NATO membership on 18 May. At the end of June, after Turkey lifted its blockade, their requests were endorsed by the leaders of all 30 NATO member states at the summit in Madrid.

The procedure of ratification of the NATO accession protocols started last week. Once all member states ratify them and deposit the ratification documents with the US government in Washington, the two countries will be able to join the alliance.

According to Žbogar, five NATO member states have already concluded the ratification procedure, and procedures in four countries are under way.

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