Nordic Countries, Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO on Wednesday, triggered by security concerns from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Finland and Sweden were both neutral throughout the Cold War and their decision to join NATO reflects the sweeping shift in public opinion in the Nordic region since the Russian invasion.

"This is a historic moment, which we must seize," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a ceremony in which the Swedish and Finnish ambassadors to the alliance handed over their application letters.

“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners,“ he continued. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”

The countries will only benefit from NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee, the alliance’s founding treaty that pledges that any attack on one member would be considered an attack of them all, once the membership ratification process is concluded, probably in a few months.

The application has to be considered by NATO’s 30 member countries. The process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about the Nordic countries joining NATO.

The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but NATO wants to move quickly given the threat from Russia hanging over the Nordic countries’ heads.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Sweden and Finland at the White House on Thursday to discuss the applications, the White House said.
-Reuters/AP