NATO invites Finland, Sweden to become members

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become its members and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols.

NATO Heads of State and government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Madrid

issued a 22-point Madrid Summit Declaration including the invitation to the two Nordic countries, said NATO in a press release.

“We reaffirm our commitment to NATO’s Open Door Policy. Today (Wednesday), we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols,” said the declaration.

In any accession to the Alliance, it is of vital importance that the legitimate security concerns of all Allies are properly addressed.

“We welcome the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden to that effect. The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure,” said the declaration, adding that the security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Sweden and Turkey on Tuesday signed a trilateral memorandum which confirms that Turkey will support the Finland´s and Sweden´s NATO membership applications at the Madrid Summit.

Turkey said Wednesday it would seek to extradite 33 suspected "terrorists" from Sweden and Finland after reaching a deal with the two Nordic countries over their NATO membership bids,