On Thursday, July 14, the Saeima unanimously voted for the bill ratifying the accession of two new member states – the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden – to NATO.
“The addition of Finland and Sweden to the alliance is important to maintain NATO’s open door policy, especially now that the alliance is under pressure from Russia’s demands on NATO, which the country made shortly before the invasion of Ukraine,” said the speaker of the chamber. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission, Rihards Kolls, adding that Latvia has always defended the right of all nations to decide on their security policy, participation in alliances and their future in general.
Cole said the addition of Finland and Sweden will help strengthen NATO’s collective military capabilities in the Baltic Sea region and expand deterrence and collective defence.
Considering Russia’s war in Ukraine, its aggressive rhetoric and the possibility of escalation of the security situation in the Baltic Sea region, it is in the interests of Latvia and its allies to speed up the NATO operation in Sweden and Finland, as stated in the annotations of the draft legislation.
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Both countries submitted letters of request to the NATO Secretary General on May 18. On July 5, NATO representatives signed the NATO Protocol on the Accession of the Republic of Finland and the North Atlantic Treaty Protocol on the Accession of the Kingdom of Sweden in Brussels.
The ratification process began after the signing of the protocols. During this procedure, NATO members ratify the protocols in accordance with their respective national procedures. Once all member states have ratified the protocols, ratification procedures will begin in Finland and Sweden.
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