The alliance also agreed on a new strategic concept
\nMADRID
\nNATO has invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the military alliance, a commununique published by the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday said.
\n\u201cThe accession of Finland and Sweden will make them (the allies) safer, NATO stronger and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure,\u201d the communique said, adding that the alliance also agreed a new strategic concept.
\nThe communique described Russia as the \u201cmost significant and direct threat to the allies\u2019 security,\u201d a reaction to the massively deteriorated relationship to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
\nThe alliance pledged further help to Kyiv and agreed a package of support aimed at modernizing the country\u2019s defense sector. At the same time, NATO decided to significantly strengthen its own deterrence and defense.
\n\u201cAllies have committed to deploy additional robust in-place combat-ready forces on our eastern flank, to be scaled up from the existing battlegroups to brigade-size units, where and when required underpinned by credible available reinforcements, prepositioned equipment, and enhanced command and control,\u201d the communique said.
\nIn the communique, the alliance described China as a challenge to NATO\u2019s interests, security and values, and as a country that is seeking to undermine the rules-based international order.
\nJapan\u2019s Kishida backs Sweden\u2019s NATO bid
\nJapanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio on Wednesday expressed support for Sweden\u2019s bid to join NATO in a meeting with his Swedish counterpart, Magdalena Andersson, on Wednesday.
\n\u201cWe support (Sweden\u2019s) historic decision. We also express our respect for its efforts,\u201d Kishida told Andersson.
\nNATO, which opened a two-day summit in Madrid on Wednesday, is expected to grant membership to Sweden and Finland after Turkey switched to support their participation.
\nKishida said that Japan and Sweden will hold the presidency of the Group of Seven major powers and the European Union, respectively, next year.
\nJapan hopes to strengthen its relations with Sweden further as partners sharing basic values, Kishida added.
\nAndersson expressed gratitude for Japan\u2019s strong action against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The alliance also agreed on a new strategic concept MADRID NATO has invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the military alliance, a commununique published by the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday said. \u201cThe accession of Finland and Sweden will make them (the allies) safer, NATO stronger and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9164,5934,1116,5933],"class_list":{"0":"post-268837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-alliance","9":"tag-finland","10":"tag-nato","11":"tag-sweden"},"yoast_head":"\n