Sweden, Finland could join NATO in just two weeks

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told the newspaper Verdens Gang on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland could have their NATO membership approved as quickly as two weeks, Newsweek reported.

Støre also confirmed that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had taken steps to bring the two countries into the fold should they apply to join, according to the outlet.

The news follows still-unconfirmed reports late last month from the Finnish paper Iltalehti and the Swedish paper Expressen that the leaders of Sweden and Finland intend to meet each other on May 16 and announce their plans to apply to join NATO soon thereafter.

In addition, Verdens Gang reported that the office of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is working with Swedish and Finnish diplomats to shrink the time window over a possible integration of the two states into the alliance.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto commented on April 26 about how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led the two nations to deliberate on whether or not to join NATO, according to Reuters.

“Now that Sweden has decided to bring forward somewhat their parliamentary process, it is possible that the decisions related to joining if they are taken, will take place on the same days or at least within the same weeks,” Haavisto told reporters.

“But at the same time NATO member countries have an interest in that no security breaches would take place during the application period,” he continued.

The move would be seen as a substantial escalation for Russia, who cited the encroachment of NATO east as one of the reasons for their ”special military operation” in Ukraine at its outset.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last month that Russia maintains NATO ”remains a tool geared towards confrontation” when asked by reporters about the possibility of Sweden and Finland joining the alliance, according to Newsweek.

“Its further expansion will not bring stability to the European continent,” he added.