BREAKING: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that Finland and Sweden have formally applied to join the world's biggest military alliance, a move driven by security concerns over Russia's war in Ukraine.
"I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners," Stoltenberg told reporters after a receiving their application letters from the two Nordic countries' ambassadors.
The application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries. That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining. Finland and Sweden are NATO's closest partners. They have functioning democracies, well-funded armed forces and contribute to the alliance's military operations and air policing. Any obstacles they face would merely be of a technical, or possibly political nature.
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