The Diplomat
The Government decided on Monday to refer the protocol on the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) to the Spanish parliament.
The measure was adopted at the meeting of the Council of Ministers, which approved an agreement that also includes the expression of Spain’s consent to the decision.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine accelerated Sweden and Finland’s demand to join the Atlantic Alliance and, despite Turkey’s reluctance, the go-ahead was given to join at the NATO summit in Madrid on 29-30 June. Thus, on 5 July, the permanent representatives of the 30 NATO allies signed the accession protocol for the two countries in Brussels. Spain ratified it the same day after it was authorised by the Council of Ministers.
However, the Council of State, in its opinion of 21 July 2022, determined that the State’s consent “requires prior authorisation” by the Spanish Parliament.
For this reason, the Government agreed on Monday to submit the protocol to the Spanish Parliament, requesting that it be processed through the urgency procedure, which means halving the planned deadlines.
In principle, the Executive will have no problems in moving forward with ratification because, despite the reluctance of some of its partners, it will have the backing of the main opposition parties: PP and Vox.
When the protocol was signed in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the process of ratification by all the allied countries could take several months.
So far, the ratification process has been completed by Canada, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
