Putin hell as NATO poised to tear up rulebook with Finland and Sweden to join in TWO WEEKS

NATO needs to prepare for ‘worst case’ with Russia says expert

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The two Nordic countries are in talks with NATO members to join the alliance over the past few weeks, as Russia continues raiding Ukraine for over two months and threatens to invade other European countries. A transition period starting with a country’s application to join, until the parliaments of all 30 member states approve it, can take up to a year.

However, diplomatic sources claim effort is being put into cutting down the time between an application and a formal invitation to as little as two weeks.

According to the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG), during this time one must have at least one formal negotiation meeting with each of the applicant countries to clarify the formalities of membership.

Subsequently, the invitation will be approved by the governments of all member states, for it will be formally handed over in a ceremony to the top political leadership in Sweden and Finland.

Norway’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said that efforts are being put so that this time window is cut down to as short as possible.

The Norwegian PM said: “It is about not making this time longer than necessary.

“We, for our part, plan for a short treatment time because no one benefits from it being long.”

The Norwegian parliament could possibly confirm the membership in an emergency meeting, he added.

The Swedish PM, Magdalena Andersson, and Finnish PM, Sanna Marin met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday.

Security guarantees were discussed during the meeting, Ms Marin confirmed as she exited.

Ms Andersson also said in Copenhagen that her government is now in talks with all the parliamentary parties in Sweden about joining NATO.

When asked whether the process could indeed only take two weeks, Ms Andersson referred to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as someone who could answer that.

The Norwegian PM showed his support and commented: “As I have said in the Storting: If Sweden and Finland apply for membership, we Norway will clearly say that they are welcome in NATO.

“And we will do everything to contribute to a fast process that is safe for the two countries, and for NATO.”

Meanwhile, Russia is threatening NATO, European countries, and the US over supporting Ukraine.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that Russian military would consider NATO transport carrying weapons in Ukraine as targets to be destroyed, according to RIA news agency.

Shoigu also said that the Ukrainian fighters holed up in the sprawling Azovstal plant in Mariupol were kept under secure blockade after President Vladimir Putin ordered that they be hermetically sealed off.

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