24 foreign ministers from the 31 NATO countries and Sweden have today met in Oslo for a final meeting before the important summit in Vilnius in July. Now that the informal meeting is over, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a closing press conference at the National Museum, next to Oslo City Hall. There are several big questions on the NATO chief’s table at the moment: Ukraine’s desire for NATO membership – and what assurances and guarantees the country can get before they eventually become a member of the defense alliance. Sweden’s NATO application, which has been blocked by Turkey for over a year. On Thursday morning, Stoltenberg said he will travel to Turkey to hold talks on Swedish NATO membership with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was recently elected for a third term. Stoltenberg emphasized that it is urgent to get Sweden into the alliance, and said that it is in NATO’s interest to grant Sweden full membership quickly. Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt also stressed that Sweden must join NATO as soon as possible. – Ukraine’s future is in NATO On the way into the town hall on Thursday morning, Stoltenberg repeated that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO”. He then said that all NATO member states welcome Ukraine. FAMILY PHOTO: A “family photo” was taken of the NATO countries after the informal meeting. Here with Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt and Anthony Blinken. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news The question is when this will happen. The Ukrainian authorities submitted an application for NATO membership last autumn. – Moscow should not have veto rights against NATO expansion. All NATO members agree that the door is open for new members, Stoltenberg said on his way into the meeting on Thursday morning. US Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken on his way down from the “informal” meeting at City Hall. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news At the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, it was opened for Ukraine to join NATO, but it was not implemented. Drones against Moscow This week there were drone attacks against several targets in Moscow. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of being behind the attacks, which Ukrainian authorities deny. On Thursday morning, Stoltenberg was asked how NATO views possible Ukrainian attacks against Moscow. NATO’s 31 member countries From its formation in 1949: Belgium Canada Denmark France Iceland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal United Kingdom USA From 1952: From 1955: From 1982: From 1990: Germany (after east and west became one country) From 1999: From 2004 : Bulgaria Estonia Latvia Lithuania Romania Slovakia Slovenia From 2009: From 2017: From 2020: From 2023: – We have the same position as before the war. Ukraine has the right to defend itself. Russia’s attack on Ukraine is a violation of international law, Stoltenberg replied. He said the most important thing now is to ensure that Ukraine survives as an independent nation. – When the war ends, we must ensure that history does not repeat itself. Therefore, we must put in place a framework that provides guarantees for Ukraine’s security after the war. Should hammer out disagreements Karsten Friis is a senior researcher at NUPI. He believes that one of the goals of the meeting has been to hammer out disagreements the various countries have about Ukraine’s path to NATO membership. Karsten Friis, senior researcher at Nupi, believes that the countries should now hammer out the disagreements between themselves. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news Several countries believe that as long as Ukraine is not in NATO, the Russians can attack again and again, says Friis. It is one of the arguments for getting the country into the alliance. At the same time, countries such as Germany and the USA will wait to give a concrete date for membership. – They can promise them many practical things, but they do not want to link it to specific dates. They don’t want to promise something they can’t keep, says Friis. Both Norwegian and NATO flags will be flown down Karl Johan. Photo: Aida Khorami / news
ttn-69
Stoltenberg holds a press conference after the NATO meeting in Oslo – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
