NATO

The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, accepted the two historically non-aligned Nordic countries' membership requests, each in a white folder embossed ...

Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, said on a visit to Rome that she hoped alliance members would move “as soon as possible” to ratify the applications. Analysts believe Erdoğan, who faces elections next year, is largely seeking concessions to score domestic political points and is ultimately unlikely to veto the two Nordic applications. “We asked them to extradite 30 terrorists, but they refused to do so,” he said. “So you won’t give us back terrorists, but you ask us for Nato membership? The enlargement of Nato must be approved by all 30 members and then ratified by their parliaments, which could take up to a year. In Ankara, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told MPs from his AK party the alliance must respect Turkey’s reservations.

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chosen a maximum moment of leverage to protest how Sweden and Finland — and other member states — handle Kurdish groups they view as terrorists. If part of NATO, the two would also bolster the alliance’s own defenses, a topic likely to come up at today’s meeting of NATO military chiefs. NATO officials have boasted that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has reinvigorated the alliance, but Turkey is challenging its unity by opposing Sweden’s and Finland’s bids to join.

Finland and Sweden this week announced their intention to join the NATO military alliance. The two countries' plans came about after Russia invaded Ukraine in ...

Their plans came about after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February — allegedly to stop it from joining NATO. Ukraine sought military training and assistance from Western countries afterward but had not been admitted to NATO. The Warsaw Pact, an alliance also dominated by Russia, included six satellite countries that are all now independent as well.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Sweden's Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist after his meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, about his country's ...

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The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group and other US naval vessels have come under NATO command as part of a series of major military drills ...

In the Mediterranean, the US carrier group has been placed under NATO command for the second time this year for exercise “Neptune Shield” which runs from 17-30 May. This marks only the second transfer of a U.S. carrier group to NATO since the end of the Cold War. The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group has also been placed under NATO command and is currently operating in the Baltic Sea for a series of drills with NATO Allies and partners. The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group and other US naval vessels have come under NATO command as part of a series of major military drills in the Baltic, Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas.

Biden made the comments a day before welcoming Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson to the White House for meetings ...

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With Sweden and Finland in NATO, the alliance would be able to recalibrate its force posture in the Baltic Sea to a level capable of evening out the ...

In the end, it’s a fight between democratic values and an authoritarian way of seeing the future.” “Russia is an authoritarian, aggressive state that has a low threshold to use military power to fulfill political goals — and they are unpredictable,” Hultqvist said. “From just a bilateral, U.S. relationship perspective, there’s a level of comfort there,” Kirby said. “That can be a very good signal to others in NATO.” Both have modern militaries the U.S. has worked and exercised with before, he noted. He previously served as managing editor for Defense News. On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden threw his support behind the Nordic countries’ NATO bid. “But if you’re strong, you can reduce it in a way.” It was unclear how long the now-complicated process of Sweden’s accession would take. Turkey is the only ally to have clearly voiced its opposition. “I will not go into that. “I see a future with more of a U.S. presence in our part of the world, but I also see that the United Kingdom will do the same,” Hultqvist said.

NATO chief says move by Baltic nations comes at 'critical moment for our security' amid Ukraine invasion.

“I warmly welcome and strongly support the historic applications from Finland and Sweden for membership in NATO and look forward to working with the U.S. Congress and our NATO allies to quickly bring Finland and Sweden into the strongest defensive alliance in history,” Biden said. A senior U.S. defense official said Austin and Hultqvist discussed “the interim period between the application for NATO membership” and what the Pentagon anticipates “will be their ultimate ascension in the alliance.” The official said Austin made it “very clear” that the United States is comfortable with Sweden’s military and would “be happy to have a discussion with them about security and capability needs that they might have to help assure them and to deter Russia, should that be necessary.” We all agree that we must stand together. And we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.” Sweden’s defense minister was at the Pentagon Wednesday for talks as Finland and Sweden formally applied for membership in the NATO military alliance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

When Finland and Sweden signalled they were thinking of making the historic decision joining NATO, the alliance expected a tough response from Moscow, ...

Turkish state broadcaster TRT said Sweden and Finland had not approved Turkey’s request for the repatriation of 33 people with alleged links to groups it sees as terrorists. Yet the calls on Wednesday came after five days of struggles by the Nordic countries to reach Erdoğan’s office, the person said. Diplomats in European capitals say they have seen brinkmanship from Erdoğan before leading to a deal. Sweden’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment after business hours. “It was embarrassing.” NATO allies had wanted to seal their accession in record time as a way of solidifying their response to Russia, yet on Monday, Erdoğan said the Swedish and Finnish delegations should not come to Ankara as planned.

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has threatened to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO, urged the alliance's members on Wednesday ...

"Sweden's membership in NATO cannot be done until Turkey's well-founded concerns are dispelled. There's no need," he said. Advertisement