Italy definitively ratified the NATO accession protocols of Sweden and Finland on Wednesday. The two countries, historically neutral, finally expressed the desire to join NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
One more step towards membership. Italy ratified on Wednesday the NATO accession protocols of Sweden and Finland. The Italian Senate adopted the text by 202 for, 13 against and two abstentions. On Tuesday, the deputies had approved it by 398 votes for, nine against and 20 abstentions.
“Thank you to the Italian Parliament. Today the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO was approved. For freedom and democracy”, welcomed the Swedish ambassador to Rome, Jan Björklund, on Twitter.
Sweden and Finland must obtain the ratification of the thirty member states of the organization to be able to benefit from the protection of article 5 of the NATO Charter in the event of an attack. Each State must therefore submit these accession protocols to its Parliament. Together with Italy, the two countries have now had their protocols ratified by 22 NATO member states. France also validated the membership protocols this week, after a vote in the National Assembly.
One country, however, is threatening to “freeze” the process. Indeed, Turkey claims that the two Nordic countries are complacent with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the Turkish regime considers a terrorist organization. Unfavorable in the first place to their membership in the Atlantic Alliance, Ankara nevertheless signed a memorandum of understanding with Sweden and Finland on the fight against Kurdish movements and their supporters, a condition imposed by Turkey to guarantee the ratification of their membership.
The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, threatened once again in July to block their entry into NATO, considering that Sweden[prend] no part » in the fight against terrorism. In particular, Turkey wants Sweden to extradite dozens of people whom Ankara considers to be terrorists”.
