Germany's FM Annalena Baerbock asserts NATO will always be defensive alliance

As Russia has expressed its discontent with Finland and Sweden's decision to seek North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) membership citing it will disrupt security in the region, the Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, after an informal meeting of North Atlantic Alliance foreign ministers on Sunday stated that the alliance's efforts will always be defensive, underlining that it does not pose threat to anyone.

As per the reports of TASS, Baerbock stated that NATO is, and will always be a defence alliance, claiming that the world changed after February 24 - the day of commencement of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, adding that NATO has a different meaning since then. She further stated that as NATO partners, they make it plain that the alliance's doors are open to those who require security assistance. She continued by stating that before February 24, for certain countries, joining the alliance was not the most significant thing but now that has changed, especially for the northern European friends in Sweden and Finland.

The German Foreign Minister also stated that if Finland and Sweden elect to join NATO, the procedure will be rather quick. She stated that both countries did not want to join NATO earlier, but now they have been pushed into it. She further claimed that their doors are open right now and Germany's government has made every effort to expedite the ratification process. Baerbock went on and added that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, they will be able to ratify necessary documents very, very quickly in Germany, like many other allies.

Annalena Baerbock also said that the German Cabinet has done everything possible to ensure that the agreement on Finland and Sweden's NATO membership is ratified quickly in Germany. Earlier, the German Foreign Minister claimed that it was Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions that pushed Sweden and Finland to join NATO and that Finland and Sweden are also willing to join the alliance since they want to live in peace with their neighbour.

EU is gradually integrating with NATO: Lavrov

In the meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the 30th Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy on Saturday that the European Union is gradually integrating with NATO, falling under NATO, according to TASS. Russia has warned both Finland and Sweden against joining NATO.

Image: AP