NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Helsinki on Tuesday to participate in the SAMAK Nordic Summit in Helsinki. During the visit, he met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and discussed “the quickest accession process in NATO’s modern history,” as well as Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine.
“Putin’s war against Ukraine grinds on and there are no signs that he’s changing his plans. He wants to control Ukraine and he is not planning for peace, he’s planning for more war. And therefore it is extremely important that we provide support to Ukraine,” the NATO secretary-general stated.
Prime Minister Marin also pointed to the need for further military support for Ukraine. She stressed that the sooner the West delivers heavy weapons to Kyiv, the sooner the war will end.
Marin emphasized that the “Future of Ukraine is a part of EU, also a member of NATO,” but the most important thing now is that it survives as an independent state.
"I see that the future of Ukraine is to be part of the European Union and a member of Nato", says Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin. pic.twitter.com/hPWKO8b8QC
— Saint Javelin (@saintjavelin) February 28, 2023
Stoltenberg noted that NATO is increasing its presence in member states on its eastern flank to prevent the war from escalating and to prevent Russia from launching new operations.
Rapid accession
During a joint press conference with the Finnish prime minister, Stoltenberg stressed that NATO is making a great deal of effort to have Finland and Sweden become members of the Alliance before the summit in Vilnius scheduled for July.
Finland and Sweden applied to NATO last May in response to Russia’s military attack on Ukraine. So far, 28 out of 30 countries have ratified their accession protocols. Only Turkey and Hungary have not done so yet.
According to him, there are no demands on the part of Budapest with regard to Finland and Sweden, and it is only a question of the parliamentary timetable, while the Finnish-Swedish-Turkish trilateral negotiations are expected to continue in March.
"The time has come" for Hungary and Turkey to ratify #NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, says Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
He and Finnish PM Sanna Marin say they haven't been given reasons why Hungary has delayed yet again, now to end of March. pic.twitter.com/HPsvCUYyVM
— Teri Schultz (@terischultz) February 28, 2023
SAMAK is the Co-operation Committee of the Nordic Social Democratic parties and trade unions. The first Workers’ Congress in this partnership between political labor parties and trade unions was held in Gothenburg, Sweden as far back as 1886.