France ratifies Finland, Sweden´s NATO accession protocols
Published : 03 Aug 2022, 15:18
Updated : 03 Aug 2022, 15:22
The French Parliament has ratified the accession protocols of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, wrote in an official document published Wednesday, reported Xinhua.
After a debate, both bills ratifying the protocols passed with 209 deputies in favor and 46 against on Tuesday, the National Assembly said on its website.
Amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, "Finland and Sweden have decided in their own sovereignty that their security will be better ensured by joining the Atlantic Alliance. It is their choice, we respect it, and we will support it," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Tuesday during the session at the French National Assembly.
With this, so far 21 countries out of total 30 ratified the NATO accession protocols for Finland and Sweden.
Earlier, Canada, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, United Kingdom, Albania, Poland, Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Lithuania, Montenegro, Belgium and North Macedonia ratified the protocols for Finland and Sweden.
Finland´s accession protocol needs to be ratified by the rest nine NATO member countries, although some questions from few countries still remain in this regard.
The United States voted overwhelmingly in support of Finland´s NATO membership but question raised about the speedy ratification of the process as a Republican senator from Kentucky Rand Paul is delaying the vote.
Meanwhile, another member Turkey, which already agreed to support Finland´s membership, is now raising question regarding the extradition of members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its leaders are very often threatening to block the membership.
The governor of Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, Massimiliano Fedriga also asked the Italian parliament to halt the ratification of Finland's membership.
The governor took the move following the recently-announced plans of Finnish company Wärtsilä to stop production at its facility in Trieste, Italy.
On July 5, the ambassadors of the 30 NATO states signed the accession protocols at the organization's headquarters in Brussels, with the foreign ministers of the two Nordic countries in attendance.