Finland and Sweden should not be faced with delays when seeking to join NATO, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday as the 30 foreign ministers from the defence alliance met in Berlin.

Finland and Sweden should not be faced with delays when seeking to join NATO, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday as the 30 foreign ministers from the defence alliance met in Berlin.

Finland and Sweden, both long neutral, are now moving closer to applying to join NATO, as fears grow about European security amid Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine.

Should the two Scandinavian countries decide to join NATO, Baerbock said it was very important to her that there should not be delays at this “special, truly historic moment for these states.”

“That’s why we as a federal republic, that’s why we as a federal government have prepared everything for a very, very quick ratification process,” Baerbock said.

The step would come after the completion of NATO internal processes to admit the two countries.

Finland and Sweden are already close NATO partners but are not official members of the alliance, though the question is now being hotly debated in both countries.

The Berlin meeting comes days after the leaders of Finland endorsed NATO membership and its governing party also agreed to the move. Neighbouring Sweden is expected to announce its decision to join in the coming days.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu on Saturday voiced objections to the admission of both countries, saying Finland and Sweden support “terrorist organisations” such as the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria.

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto are expected to join the Berlin meeting, which kicks off the final phase of negotiations on NATO’s Strategic Concept, its guiding document for the years ahead.