FRENCH / US PRES. MACRON & BIDEN HAVE RATIFIED NATO TREATY FOR FINLAND & SWEDEN

USPA NEWS - The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, signed on Saturday, on behalf of France, the ratification protocol for the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, which had been adopted by the French Parliament on August 2. According to the French Presidency (Source: Elysee) "This sovereign choice of Finland and Sweden (…) will strengthen their security in the face of the current threat in their immediate vicinity". On August 9,  U.S President Biden also signed the United States Instruments of Ratification of the Accession Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty for the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, which the U.S. Senate approved on August 3 (the Senate voted 95 to 1 to ratification). The votes in the US Congress and Italian parliament came just a day after French lawmakers also backed the two countries' accession to NATO in a 209-46 ballot. About twenty allies of the North Atlantic Alliance, among the 30 countries. “Twenty allies” have “already ratified the protocols”, confirmed French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna during the adoption by the French Parliament.

The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, signed on Saturday, on behalf of France, the ratification protocol for the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, which had been adopted by the French Parliament on August 2. According to the French Presidency (Source: Elysee) "This sovereign choice of Finland and Sweden (…) will strengthen their security in the face of the current threat in their immediate vicinity". On August 9,  U.S President Biden also signed the United States Instruments of Ratification of the Accession Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty for the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, which the U.S. Senate approved on August 3 (the Senate voted 95 to 1 to ratification). The votes in the US Congress and Italian parliament came just a day after French lawmakers also backed the two countries' accession to NATO in a 209-46 ballot. About twenty allies of the North Atlantic Alliance, among the 30 countries. “Twenty allies” have “already ratified the protocols”, confirmed French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna during the adoption by the French Parliament. The votes in French National Assembly, the Ratification of the protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty (accessions of Finland and Sweden to NATO) adopted the accession, to NATO in a 209-46 ballot ( 3rd of August 2022) On 17 May 2022, Ann Linde, Sweden's foreign minister, signed Sweden's application to join NATO, following Finland's earlier intention to join NATO. On 18 May 2022, both countries formally applied to join NATO. According to the French Presidency (Source: Elysee) "This sovereign choice of Finland and Sweden (…) will strengthen their security in the face of the current threat in their immediate vicinity". French President Macron, implied, Russia the immediate neighbor, threatening since it attacked Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, generating an armed conflict, which lasts at the time of writing, causing many deaths, wounded, displaced to neighboring European countries, massive material damage, and the consequences of the food and energy crisis.?Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he could break us apart,” Biden said from the East Room of the White House. “Our alliance is closer than ever, it is more united than ever, and after Finland and Sweden join we will be stronger than ever.” “They will meet every NATO requirement, we are confident of that,” US President Joe Biden said before signing the documents. Last week, the Senate voted 95 to 1 to ratify the entrance of Finland and Sweden into the world’s most powerful military alliance

THE RATIFICATION OF THE NATO TREATY BY FRANCE & USA IS THE 1ST STEP OF FINLAND & SWEDEN NATO’S MEMBERSHIP Since France and the USA have ratified the accession protocol of Sweden and Finland, this brings the number of about twenty allies of the North Atlantic Alliance, among the 30 countries. “Twenty allies” have “already ratified the protocols”, confirmed French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna during the adoption by the French Parliament. This is a great step towards this historic moment of the accession of Sweden and Finland. “This sovereign choice of Finland and Sweden, two European partners, will strengthen their security in the face of the current threat in their immediate neighborhood and will make a significant contribution, given the capabilities of these two partners, to the collective posture and to our European security", indicated the Elysée, this weekend.Indeed, Mario Draghi then Italian PM had also declared as ehe answered our reporter whether the NATO' Summit of Madrid is historic as far as Sweden and Finland memberships is concerned “Yes it is a very historic momentum. We just gathered around during the war and the NATO has expressed its unity and consistency and standing behind Ukraine as long as it takes.” (Comments collected by USPA during the NATO Summit. Sweden and Finland have since renounced their traditional neutrality due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The two countries need a ratification of the thirty member states of the organization to benefit from the protection of article 5 of the NATO Charter in the event of an attack. On the Turkish side, the President received Erdogan had made it possible to lift a blockage to this dual membership during the last NATO's Summit Extraordinary in Madrid 28-30 June 2022.

Since France and the USA have ratified the accession protocol of Sweden and Finland, this brings the number of about twenty allies of the North Atlantic Alliance, among the 30 countries. “Twenty allies” have “already ratified the protocols”, confirmed French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna during the adoption by the French Parliament. This is a great step towards this historic moment of the accession of Sweden and Finland.

“This sovereign choice of Finland and Sweden, two European partners, will strengthen their security in the face of the current threat in their immediate neighborhood and will make a significant contribution, given the capabilities of these two partners, to the collective posture and to our European security", indicated the Elysée, this weekend.
Indeed, Mario Draghi then Italian PM had also declared « (Comments collected by USPA during the NATO Summit,
Sweden and Finland have since renounced their traditional neutrality due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The two countries need a ratification of the thirty member states of the organization to benefit from the protection of article 5 of the NATO Charter in the event of an attack.
On the Turkish side, the President received Erdogan had made it possible to lift a blockage to this dual membership during the last NATO's Summit Extraordinary in Madrid 28-30 June 2022.

Indeed during that historic Summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the leaders of the alliance had reached a deal to admit Finland and Sweden after resolving the concerns of holdout Turkey. «"Leaders will also make a historic decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO," said Jens Stoltenberg, adding that this was made possible by the trilateral agreement reached on Tuesday between Türkey, Finland, and Sweden.  It will be a transformative Summit, because we will make historic decisions. We will agree a new Strategic Concept for our Alliance, which is a blueprint for how to take NATO into the future in a more competitive and dangerous world, to protect all Allies and close to one billion citizens. » said Mr Stoltenberg. As he was speaking at a news conference in Madrid at the end of a NATO summit, on 30th June, Turkish President Erdogan said he saw the signing of the trilateral accord as recognition of Ankara's sensitivities around terrorism and a "diplomatic victory" for Turkey. President Erdogan, also said that Finland and Sweden must keep their promises made to Turkey in a deal to lift its veto on their NATO membership bids or ratification will not be sent to the Turkish parliament.

BID OF SWEDEN & FINLAND’S MEMBERSHIP IS PENDED UPON COMPROMISE WITH TURKEY AN IMPORTANT MEMBER OF NATO Turkish President Erdogan explained at press conference in Madrid at the end of a NATO summit, on 30th June, that Sweden had promised to extradite 73 individuals that he described as “terrorists” to Turkey as part of the agreement, although the memorandum of understanding did not have any explicit pledges for specific extraditions. “The key thing is for promises to come true,” Erdogan said at the news conference. “In the coming period, we will monitor the enforcement of the elements in the memorandum and will take our steps accordingly,” he said. “First Sweden and Finland should carry out their duties and those are in the text … But if they don’t, of course it is out of the question for the ratification to be sent to our parliament,” and that “We have strongly emphasised the message that we expect genuine solidarity from our allies, not only in words but also in action,” Erdogan added. However, this ratification is subject to a consensus of the thirty member countries, and to the goodwill of one of the oldest major Allies, Turkey, which could "freeze" the process, if ever, she felt that Sweden dan Finland, are being too benevolent towards the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which Turkey considers "terrorist organizations" As the memorandum was signed by by the foreign ministers of the three countries – Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu of Türkiye, Pekka Haavisto of Finland, and Ann Linde of Sweden – in the presence of all three national leaders, and the Secretary General, during the NATO’s Summit in Madrid, 28-30 June 22, S.G Stoltenberg said:  “I strongly welcome the signing of this trilateral memorandum, and I strongly welcome the constructive approach all three countries have shown during the negotiations. Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO is good for Finland and Sweden, it is good for NATO, and it is good for European security.”../