Article author:
Reuters
Brussels — NATO's 30 allies signed the Finnish and Swedish accession protocol on Tuesday, allowing them to join the Nuclear Armed Alliance after ratifying the decision. This is the most important expansion of the alliance since the mid-1990s.
"This is a truly historic moment," NATO Secretary-General Jason Stoltenberg said with the Foreign Ministers of both countries. "We will be even stronger as 32 countries are around the table." The
protocol hopes that Helsinki and Stockholm will be able to attend NATO meetings and access to information will be improved. This means that an attack on one ally is not protected by NATO's defense clause that it is an attack on all until ratified. It can take up to a year. (Report by Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold)
