Haavisto hopes that Finland and Sweden will join NATO by the Vilnius summit
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (green) started the press conference by expressing his condolences to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and their families.
According to Haavisto, the agenda included, among other things, Sweden’s recent EU presidency. According to Haavisto, the EU has performed well in supporting Ukraine both militarily and through sanctions against Russia.
In addition, the Finnish and Swedish NATO process was on the table. According to Haavisto, the Hungarian parliament is expected to discuss NATO ratification in February, possibly at the end of February.
According to Haavisto, it is very important that both Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO process is ongoing. The foreign minister says that he hopes that both Finland and Sweden will be NATO members by the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
Haavisto says that Finland and Sweden have taken Turkey’s security concerns into account. According to him, the membership of Finland and Sweden will strengthen NATO.
According to Haavisto, security planning in the Baltic Sea region is more effective when Finland and Sweden are both NATO members.