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Added on the 12/05/2022 10:30:09 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto signs Finland's NATO application letter in the Government Palace in Helsinki. The country will submit their bid to join the military alliance together with Sweden on Wednesday. IMAGES
The Prime Minsster of Finland, Sanna Marin, confirms in a press conference that a report on the case for Finland making an application to NATO will be heard in parliament after the Easter break and that she expects a decision to be made within the "upcoming weeks". SOUNDBITE
As NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary in the shadow of the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asks allies for more Patriot air defence systems. SOUNDBITE
Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson says the "northern flank of NATO is more complete" as he holds a press conference with his Norwegian and Finnish counterparts in Troms, Norway. Swedish troops are taking part in a vast NATO military exercise to simulate repelling an invasion of neighbouring Norway. SOUNDBITE
The defence of Europe without Ukraine would be a "futile task", Kyiv's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tells the press as he arrives for a meeting of his North Atlantic Treaty Organization counterparts in Brussels. Speaking after greeting the US-led defence alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Kuleba adds that he believes the Ukrainian armed forces to now be currently "the strongest and the most battle-hardened army in Europe" as its war against Russia's invading forces drags on towards a third year. Kuleba and his NATO counterparts on Wednesday are set to agree on a plan for reforms aimed at helping Ukraine towards eventual membership in the alliance. IMAGES