Finland and Sweden would be ‘warmly welcomed’ into Nato, the head of the military alliance claimed on Thursday.
Jens Stoltenberg said both countries would be embraced with open arms should they decide to join the 30-nation military organisation and could become members quite quickly.
“It’s their decision,” Mr Stoltenberg said in Brussels. “But if they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will be warmly welcomed, and I expect that process to go quickly.”
They are expected to submit a simultaneous application, possibly as early as next month.
Both countries have previously remained out of the alliance due to fears of upsetting Russia and because of a lack of domestic support for becoming part of Nato.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dramatically changed the security landscape in Europe and public support in both countries to sign up for Nato membership has noticeably increased in recent weeks.
Finland, which has a 1,300 kilometre-long (810 miles) border with Russia, has seen support for membership rise sharply, despite the possibility of any adverse reaction from Moscow.
A poll in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper on Thursday found 59 per cent of Finns in favour of joining, with just 17 per cent against.
Sweden’s Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, said recently that “everything had changed” after the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has warned that it could deploy nuclear weapons in the Baltic region if Finland and Sweden sign up.
Nato’s collective security guarantee ensures that all member countries must come to the aid of any ally under attack.
Mr Stoltenberg added that many Nato allies have now pledged and provided a total of at least eight billion US dollars in military support to Ukraine.
He added that the alliance was ready to support Ukraine “for years” in the war against Russia, including helping Kyiv to advance from old Soviet-era weapons to modern Western military equipment.
