Ready To Accept Finland And Sweden In NATO, Greek Foreign Minister: We Believe They Have A Lot To Offer

JAKARTA - Greece fully supports the plans of Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Greek foreign minister said on Saturday local time.

"Greece has very good relations with these two countries, which are also members of the European Union," Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said in Berlin, Germany, where he will attend an informal meeting of NATO ministers.

"Greece's stance is very clear (on the matter), we are ready to welcome Sweden and Finland into the NATO family, we believe they have a lot to offer," he said.

One day after Finland - Russia's northeastern neighbor - committed to submitting its application to become a NATO member, Sweden stressed a similar determination.

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said her country's membership in NATO would help stabilize and benefit countries in the Baltic Sea region.

If that happens, the incorporation of Finland and Sweden into the Western military alliance - which consists of 30 countries - will end the neutral attitude that the two countries have held during the Cold War.

Merging Finland and Sweden would expand NATO's scope, a situation Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to prevent by an invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow said Finland's membership in NATO would pose a threat that would prompt him to act. It did not say what kind of action Russia would take.