Helsinki. February 2. INTERFAX - Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that her country and Sweden should join NATO together.
"It is very important that today we send a clear signal. Finland and Sweden have applied together, and it is in everyone's interest that we join together," Marin said at a press conference on Thursday after meeting with her Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson, the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported.
She noted that she does not like the debate in which Sweden is seen as a problem.
"Sweden is not a problem. I don't like when Sweden is portrayed as a clumsy child in the classroom," Marin said, noting that "Sweden meets all the criteria for membership in NATO."
Kristersson also stated that "Finland and Sweden have embarked on the path to NATO together and both countries will follow this path together."
"I appreciate the very clear messages from Finland, from you and President Sauli Niinisto that we are on this path together," Kristersson said.
He expressed confidence in the joint progress of Finland and Sweden on the issue of NATO membership.
NATO member states signed protocols on the accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Council on July 5, 2022. These States will join NATO as soon as all NATO member States have ratified the protocols of accession.
To date, out of 30 NATO member countries, Sweden and Finland's membership in the alliance has not yet been ratified by Turkey and Hungary.
Turkey blocked the accession process, demanding that both Nordic countries declare Kurdish organizations terrorist and extradite persons accused of terrorism, as well as lift bans on arms supplies to Ankara.
