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NATO

Finland to join Nato without Sweden if Turkey gives go ahead

Finland's president has said that his country will have to join Nato before Sweden if Turkey opts to only ratify Finnish membership of the security alliance.

Published: 17 February 2023 14:14 CET
Finland to join Nato without Sweden if Turkey gives go ahead
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto speaks at a Summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Riga, Latvia, in December 2022. Photo: AP/Roman Koksarov

According to a report in Finland’s Iltalehti tabloid, Sauli Niinistö told Finnish journalists that if Turkey and Hungary ratify Finland’s membership of Nato before that of Sweden, then Finland will automatically become a member. 

“We do not want to and cannot withdraw our application,” Niinistö said at a security conference in Munich, arguing that Finland can not stop the process once it is approved by all Nato members states. 

While Turkey, he said, understands that Finland wants to become a member together with Sweden, “Turkey’s attitude towards our wishes are only and exclusively in Turkey’s hands”. 

The foreign policy committee in Finland’s parliament on Friday voted in favour of the country joining Nato, saying that Finland should join as soon as possible, preferably together with Sweden. 

According to Finland’s national broadcaster Yle, the parliament as a whole will begin to debate the bill on Finland’s Nato membership next week, with a vote on the new law expected on February 28th. 

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MILITARY

Sweden set to spend 138 billion kronor on defence in 2025

Sweden is boosting its defence budget by 13 billion kronor for next year, going above and beyond Nato spending minimums.

Published: 18 September 2024 08:48 CEST
Sweden set to spend 138 billion kronor on defence in 2025

The increase will mean that Sweden’s defence budget in 2025 would amount 138 billion kronor, or 2.4 percent of GDP, the government said, above the 2 percent of GDP minimum that Nato expects its members to allot to defence.

For 2024, defence spending was expected to stand at 2.2 percent of GDP, according to government estimates.

The Nordic country dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and applied for membership in the US-led alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – becoming the 32nd member in March of this year.

“The security situation has continued to deteriorate,” Defence Minister Pål Jonson told a press conference.

Further investments were also announced going up to 2030, which were expected to bring the total military budget to the equivalent of 2.6 percent of GDP by 2028.

In April, a Swedish parliamentary commission recommended measures to strengthen the country’s armed forces and bring defence spending to 2.6 percent of GDP.

The Swedish Defence Commission said the Scandinavian country needed to respond to new conditions, citing heightened tensions in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s recent integration into the Nato military alliance.

It recommended additional army brigades and navy personnel, a rise in the number of conscripts trained up every year and the creation of Sweden’s first ever rocket artillery unit.

In a statement, the government said the 2025 defence budget aimed to “increase the Swedish Armed Forces’ operational capacity by investing in personnel, materiel and infrastructure”.

It said the target for 2025, was for “8,000 conscripts to complete basic training”.

Sweden drastically slashed its defence spending after the end of the Cold War but reversed course following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In March 2022, after Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, Stockholm announced it would increase spending again, aiming to dedicate two percent of GDP to defence “as soon as possible”.

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