The Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian foreign ministers have promised to do their best to ensure a swift NATO accession process for Finland and Sweden.
“We will do what it takes to assist our long-standing Nordic friends on their path to the upcoming alliance of 32,” the Baltic foreign ministers said in a joint statement on Monday. “We are committing ourselves to promote speedy ratification of the accession protocols once they are signed.”
The three Baltic ministers said the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden “will also greatly increase the security of the Baltic Sea region” and “open new perspectives for Nordic-Baltic and other regional cooperation formats in defence and security matters”.
The decision of Finland and Sweden to join NATO was prompted by the changed security situation in the region due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The final approval for the two country’s accession could be given at NATO’s summit in Madrid in late June. The alliance’s 30 member states would then have to ratify the decision.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland and Sweden of “consequences” if they join NATO.
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