US President Joe Biden is almost certain that Sweden will be the new member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in the near future, despite the obstruction by Turkey and Hungary, as per the report by Al Jazeera.
Biden admired NATO’s unity on Thursday in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while speaking at the graduation ceremony for the United States Air Force Academy. The US President said, “NATO is more energised and more united than it’s been in decades. It’s now even stronger with the accession of our newest ally, Finland, and soon Sweden, to the alliance, as soon as possible. It will happen. I promise you”, reported Al Jazeera.
Biden’s remarks came a few days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed to Turkey to give its nod to Sweden’s bid to become a NATO member.
“From the perspective of the United States, the time is now to finalise Sweden’s accession,” Blinken told reporters in the northern Swedish city of Lulea on Tuesday.
He also voiced hope that the process would get finished before an ensuing NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, in July.
The NATO countries must ratify the new members. An attack on one NATO member state constitutes an attack on the entire alliance, according to Article 5 of the US-led bloc’s collective defence pact, according to a report published in Al Jazeera.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and its neighbour Finland started applying for membership in NATO. Sweden’s application is still pending, while Finland’s official affiliation with the alliance began in April.
