On the level of NAC heads of state, Finland and Sweden have been officially invited to start accession to NATO - Rinkevics

  • 2022-06-29
  • LETA/TBT Staff

MADRID - On the level of the North Atlantic Council's (NAC) heads of state, Finland and Sweden have been officially invited to start accession to NATO, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (New Unity), who is attending the NATO Summit in Madrid, told LETA.  

The minister voiced hope that a protocol on the two countries' accession to the Alliance might be signed at a NAC meeting within the next couple of weeks, which would be followed by a ratification process. 

"These agreements have to be ratified by all 30 NATO member states. The Saeima is ready to ratify them in the shortest period of time possible, but there are countries where the ratification procedures are a bit longer. However, considering the current circumstances, I do not think that we are talking about a year or two. I hope that this will happen sooner," Rinkevics said.

As reported, for a long time Finland and Sweden had been reserved about joining NATO, but the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine has prompted the two countries to apply to join the Alliance.