US confident Sweden, Finland will soon join NATO despite Turkey's holdup
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the two Nordic states had taken "tangible steps" to address Turkey's security concerns.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed confidence on Thursday that Sweden and Finland will soon enter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, despite the current holdup by Turkey.
“Both countries have taken significant concrete actions to fulfill their commitments, including those related to the security concerns on the part of our ally Turkey,” Blinken said in a news conference at the State Department alongside his Swedish and Finnish counterparts.
“There can be no doubt on anyone's part that they are ready today to be formal members of the alliance,” he added.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military nonalignment to seek membership in NATO, driven by concerns their countries could be next.
