House of Representatives quickly behind the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland

The House of Representatives approved the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Late last night, the vast majority of House members voted in favor of the approval bill, and the Senate will almost certainly do the same next week.

If the Senate actually approves, there will be only a week between the moment the Cabinet formally ratifies Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership and the Dutch parliament’s ratification. This is exceptionally fast. There are a few other countries that are speeding up the process as well.

Sweden and Finland have always maintained their neutrality, but were keen to join NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All members of the alliance Signed this week Protocols for this, including Turkey, which were initially obstructive.

The Turks managed to get Sweden and Finland to lift the arms embargo on Turkey, and Ankara also received pledges to fight terrorism.

It remains to be seen whether the Turks will finally agree, as President Erdogan continues to stress that Sweden and Finland must fulfill their commitments. Members of Parliament were not fully reassured last night about the Turkish deal, but Defense Minister Olungren said she was optimistic about the process.

The Swedish and Finnish accessions are seen by many as a historic moment. These words also fell into the House of Representatives.

In the end, only the Democracy Forum and the Van Haga group in the lower house voted yesterday not to approve the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO. The vote late last night was the last before the summer break.