“There is an urgency to keep the time gap between applying to joining and actually becoming a member as short as possible for fear of Russia taking some form of action before the Article 5 security guarantee comes into force as they become members. The process will still take several months, and NATO as an institution will accept their applications at their summit at the end of June in Madrid. But then, every existing NATO member state must ratify Sweden and Finland's membership application. This will take some time and will vary depending on the rules in each member state. It is likely to be late 2022 at the earliest when this is complete.”
18 May 2022
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