US President Joe Biden has expressed his support for Finland and Sweden’s request of membership to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).<\/p>\n
“We warmly welcome and strongly support the historic applications of Finland and Sweden,” Biden said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The two countries have long been faithful partners of the United States,” Biden said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Finland and Sweden have maintained a neutral line following a policy of military non-alignmentism for 74 years and maintained cooperative relations without joining NATO however have now decided to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
President Biden has consistently expressed his support for the two countries’ membership in NATO, through phone calls, etc.<\/p>\n
President Biden is expected to reaffirm his strong support in a meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Saulini Nist\u00f6 at the White House on the 19th.<\/p>\n
According to NATO regulations, membership in a new member country requires unanimous approval from the existing 30 member countries, but Turkey’s opposition is a factor.<\/p>\n
Turkey has taken a negative stance against the two countries’ membership in NATO, citing Finland and Sweden’s support of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish armed group that is carrying out a separatist movement within the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"