NATO: Turkey drops objections to Sweden’s application and Ukraine’s future membership

NATO leaders meet at key summit, in Lithuania mere hours ago as the alliances chief, Jens Stoltenberg, said Erdoğan(president of Türkiye) has agreed to work closely with the grand national assembly (Turkey parliament) to ensure the principals approval. And a crucial summit that could shape the direction of the war in Ukraine and the future of the whole western alliance.

The Lithuanian president Gintis Nauseda hosts NATO secretary and the leaders of many of the 31 allied countries. They arrive on a welcome boost as Sweden is announced to be allowed to join the NATO alliance after turkey’s president agreed to set aside his veto and recommend to his parliament that Sweden’s application go ahead after blocking the move for over a year.

Figure 1-a tweet by Jens Stoltenberg announcing the forward of Sweden’s accession

Now that leaves a question: will NATO issue an invitation to Ukraine?

When asked this question the alliance chief said, “you will see the language in a few hours because we are now finalising the communique”.

Supplies from allies have been essential for Ukraine in this war. the NATO summit in Vilnius is a crucial moment to ensure they have what they need to continue the fight, and the widespread expectation is that new weapons will be promised at the summit as well as more supplies of ammunition- but viewed from Ukraine the summit is about much more than just weapons and ammunition- it’s about what type of commitment the country will be offered when it comes to joining the alliance. Ukraine has applied for NATO for years, receiving endless support. But what is what they actually want is something more than just positive words and endless waiting? 

The White House along with the rest of the other world leaders at key summit today refuse to give a specific timetable regarding the invitation. The White House also stated that the alliance will “send a united, positive signal” on Ukraine path to membership, yet still declined to discuss the timetable and the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that he is confident it will be a positive and strong message on Ukraine to the path of membership following this, Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister says, “we believe that it is long overdue to invite Ukraine to NATO,” he follows this by expand further on his point:

            “An invitation to join NATO does not mean an immediate membership in NATO. We are cognizant of the fact that as long as the war with Russia goes on, Ukraine won’t be able to join NATO. But we are talking about the invitation and setting the clear timeframe for this to happen.” – this is because it would run a risk of plunging the alliance into war with Russia, as NATO would be obliged under article 5 of its treaty to defend any member that is under attack. 

Instead, Kyiv wants a clear promise of post war membership with a timeline but what NATO might say about this potential membership is dividing the alliance!

The Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and eastern European nations (, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and the western part of the Russian Federation) are pushing for as much clarity as possible, they want the alliance to acknowledge the amount of progress Ukraine has made towards the membership, especially their army’s impeccable coordination abilities with other NATO forces. now that they share similar weapons and strategies. They also want NATO to make clear what further conditions Ukraine must meet to achieve membership.

Although some allies, like the USA and Germany are cautious of promising Ukraine too much. They want Ukraine to do more to fight corruption, ensure civilian control over their military and strengthen their judiciary.

By Zofia

Boston High School Newsroom

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