Canada will side with Finland and Sweden in their desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and hopes that their entry will be quick because of the war in Ukraine.
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“We are in favor and we are in favor not only of accession, but of rapid accession,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said during a press briefing on Monday.
Referring to the common values and the “strong armies” of the two countries, the minister did not hide Ottawa’s objective of being one of the first countries to ratify their entry.
“Unlike many countries, we have a process that is very fast,” she said, adding that she had already discussed with the opposition on this subject.
“There is a very broad consensus on the issue, so we hope to be able to do the ratification in the next few days,” said Ms. Joly.
The place of the Arctic countries would also be strengthened by the entry of Finland and Sweden, since seven of these eight countries would be part of the Alliance if their requests are ratified.
Remember that Finland submitted its application to join the Alliance last Thursday. Its neighbor, Sweden, is expected to follow the same direction and announce its request in the coming days, after years of opposition to this entry.
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