(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
Canada became the first country to formally ratify Finland and
Sweden's accession to NATO in an accelerated process completed
shortly after member nations signed off on the nuclear-armed
alliance's expansion, Trend reports citing Reuters .
The accession protocol needs to be ratified by the parliaments
of all 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members before Finland
and Sweden can be protected by the NATO defense clause - that an
attack on one member is an attack against all. read more
Members of Canada's House of Commons had unanimously expressed
their support for Finland and Sweden in a vote earlier in June
before the chamber closed for a summer break.
Before using an administrative process to ratify their
membership on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly spoke to
opposition lawmakers to make sure they were in agreement, the
minister's spokesman said.
'We wanted to be the first country to ratify,' Joly's spokesman
said.
The signing of the protocol still allows Helsinki and Stockholm
to participate in NATO meetings and have greater access to
intelligence until ratification.
'Canada has full confidence in Finland and Sweden's ability to
integrate quickly and effectively into NATO and contribute to the
alliance's collective defense,' Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau said in statement.
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