Finland and Sweden will be welcomed into NATO quickly with ‘open arms’, chief Jens Stoltenberg says

Finland and Sweden could join NATO swiftly and would be ‘welcomed with open arms’, its leader said today.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists this morning he expects the two historically neutral countries’ entries will happen ‘quickly’.

The nations have expressed a new desire to join NATO since Russia invaded Ukraine.

It follows news yesterday that Finland and Sweden will both apply just next month.

Mr Stoltenberg said in Brussels: ‘If they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will be warmly welcomed and I expect the process to go quickly.’

He also described the countries as ‘our closest partners’, adding: ‘They are strong and mature democracies.

‘Their armed forces meet NATO standards and are interoperable with NATO forces.

‘We train together, we exercise together, and we have also worked with Finland and Sweden in many different missions and operations.’

The NATO leader said he will meet with president of Finland Sauli Niinisto later today, Reuters reported. 

And in a stinging rebuke to Putin’s war in Ukraine, Stoltenberg said: ‘This is fundamentally about the right of every nation in Europe to decide its own future. 

‘So when Russia tries in a way to threaten, to intimidate Finland and Sweden from not applying it just demonstrates how Russia is not respecting the basic right of every nation to choose its own path.’

Since Russia began its invasion on February 24, NATO members have spent $8billion (£5.4billion) providing military support and weapons to Ukraine.

Finland and Sweden are currently NATO ‘partners’ – permitted to take part in joint training exercises and receive briefings – but are not full members.

Becoming a full member would mean the pair are protected under Article 5, which states an attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on every member.

They joined the EU alongside Austria in 1995. 

Entering NATO also requires ratification in the parliaments of all 30 member states. But the Secretary-General said the countries could join as interim members in the meantime.

He said: ‘I am confident that there are ways to bridge that interim period in a way which is good enough and works for both Finland and Sweden.’

Russia, which shares an 810-mile border with Finland, said it will fire nuclear weapons in its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad if the two countries apply to join NATO.

Sweden’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson is understood to be eager for the country to join the trans-Atlantic alliance by June.

This will be met with fury in the Kremlin, whose invasion of Ukraine was prompted in part by Kyiv’s wish to join the pact.

Moscow lawmaker Vladimir Dzhabarov warned if Finland tried to join it would mean ‘the destruction of the country’.

Swedish PM Andersson hosted Finnish PM Sanna Marin in Stockholm for a meeting on their prospective memberships of the alliance less than two weeks ago.

Marin said at the time: ‘There are different perspectives to apply (for) NATO membership or not to apply and we have to analyse these very carefully. But I think our process will be quite fast, it will happen in weeks.’

The assault on Ukraine sparked a dramatic U-turn in public and political opinion in Finland and neighbouring Sweden regarding their long-held policies of military non-alignment.

In Finland, support for joining the alliance has grown from 28 per cent in February to 68 per cent. 

And 57 per cent of Swedes favour NATO membership, compared with 51 per cent last month.

But Maria Zakharova, spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said last week both countries have been informed ‘what it will lead to’ if they become NATO members.

‘We have issued all our warnings both publicly and through bilateral channels,’ she told the Rossiya 24 state media channel. ‘They know about it, they will have nothing to be surprised about, they were informed about everything.’

Ms Andersson, the Swedish PM, has said there is ‘no point’ delaying any NATO bid.

‘There is a before and after 24 February,’ she said, referring to the date on which Russia invaded Ukraine. ‘This is a very important time in history.

‘The security landscape has completely changed. We have to analyse the situation to see what is best for Sweden’s security, for the Swedish people, in this new situation.’

Putin yesterday slammed NATO involvement in Ukraine and said Russia’s response to any potential threats will be ‘lightning fast’.

The president made the fiery comments just days after Russia tested its new Sarmat 2 nuclear missile, which it claims can beat all defences.

Putin said: ‘If someone intends to interfere in what is going on from the outside they must know that constitutes an unacceptable strategic threat to Russia. 

‘They must know that our response to counter strikes will be lightning fast. Fast.’

On Monday, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Russia is now fighting a proxy-war with the whole of NATO – and the risk of it turning nuclear is ‘real’.

Speaking on state TV, Lavrov said the current situation is worse than the Cuban missile crisis at the height of the Cold War.

Asked about the possibility of a nuclear war, he said: ‘The risks are very significant. I do not want the danger to be artificially inflated [but] it is serious, real. It cannot be underestimated.’

Finnish president Sauli Niinisto warned in late March that Russia could ‘disrupt’ his country if it dares join the defensive alliance.

He said Moscow could breach Finnish territory and launch cyber attacks should Helsinki ask to enter the Western military alliance. 

Mr Niinisto stated: ‘We don’t even know all the possibilities for hybrid influencing that someone may invent. The entire world of information technology is vulnerable.’

Finns share with Ukraine a fierce sense of independence from Russia. Finland defended itself against Stalin’s aggression in the Winter War of 1939 and 1940.

Facing up to 750,000 invading Soviet troops in -43C temperatures, a Finnish army half that size held off a Russian invasion for three months until it agreed a ceasefire.