BREAKING: #NATO Confirms #Finland And #Sweden Membership Bid Amid #Putin’s War—–Nato says Finland and Sweden have applied for membership amid concerns over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed he had received letters from the two Nordic countries expressing their interest in joining the military alliance.
Sweden share a maritime border with Russia, while Finland has an 810-mile (1,300km) land border with Putin’s increasingly hostile state.
Both Scandinavian nations are historically neutral but they have been been vocal in their support for Ukraine and against the nuclear threats coming out of Moscow.
However, their applications could be derailed by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who vowed to use their veto to block them.
Erdogan is angry at the two countries for welcoming Kurdish refugees with ties to pro-independence groups.
He even said they shouldn’t bother sending diplomats to try and change his mind, warning Nato would become a ‘hatchery’ for terrorists if they joined.
‘Neither of these countries have a clear, open attitude towards terrorist organisations,’ he said. ‘How can we trust them?’
