Nordic countries are in favour of opening a “quick path” for NATO membership for Finland and Sweden. Both states are expected to apply to the military alliance before the NATO summit in Madrid in June.

Prime Ministers of Norway, Iceland and Denmark, who met in Copenhagen, support the idea of granting a short transition period for NATO membership to Finland and Sweden.

“If Finland and Sweden decide to apply for NATO membership, the governments of Norway, Iceland and Denmark should support such application on the same day,” Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Store said. His proposal was seconded by the head of the Danish government Mette Frederiksen and Iceland PM Karin Jakobsdottir.

Speaking at the conference in Copenhagen, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson pointed out that her country’s application to NATO has to be approved quickly. She added that Russia suggested that “it would react, as soon as Sweden applies to the Alliance”.

Also, Finland is considering whether to apply for NATO membership but the country’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that keeping any transition period as short as possible would be important for its security. “The key issue is to keep the ratification process as short as possible… That would be the best security guarantee,” Marin said at a joint news conference with her Nordic counterparts.

Earlier, the Norwegian daily “VG” wrote that several NATO countries hold talks on “extraordinary acceleration of membership applications from Finland and Sweden”. The cited diplomatic sources claim that the Alliance’s Secretary-General (former Norway’s PM) Jens Stoltenberg plays a vital role in the process.