NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana has assured Ukraine of continued western support in its fight against Russian troops.
“Thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian army and our help, Ukraine can win this war,” Geoana said on the sidelines of informal consultations between NATO foreign ministers on Sunday morning in Berlin. The Russian offensive in Ukraine is already “losing momentum”.
Geoana was positive about Sweden’s and Finland’s plans to join NATO. He was “confident that the Allies” would examine possible membership applications from both “vibrant democracies” “constructively and positively. Turkey’s “concerns” regarding this topic were discussed “amicably”. NATO’s “open-door policy” was “sacrosanct”.
The Finnish government recently announced that it intends to apply for NATO membership. Sweden also wants to decide soon on a similar step. In both countries, the parliaments have to approve the applications for membership.
Turkey had expressed reservations about the accession of the two countries. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Nordic countries of being close to Kurdish extremists. Numerous NATO states, including the federal government, have already voiced their support for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
Surf tip: You can find all the news about the Ukraine war in the FOCUS Online news ticker
