Estonian president signs law endorsing Finland, Sweden's accession to NATO

TALINN. July 6 (Interfax) - Estonian President Alar Karis has signed a law ratifying the protocols on Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO after it was passed by the parliament on Wednesday.

"Finland and Sweden joining NATO has historical significance for the Northern and Baltic regions and makes the alliance stronger than ever. Finland and Sweden's accession gives NATO considerable strategic force in the Baltic Sea area, ensures security of the North-Atlantic Alliance overall and increases the defense capacity of us all," the presidential press service quoted him as saying.

"It also enables bringing cooperation in the Baltic Sea area to a new level not only in security, but in many sectors as well," he said.

Karis expressed hope that the process of ratifying accession protocols among the allies would proceed quickly and that Finland and Sweden would soon join NATO.

Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO on May 18. The decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO was made at the Madrid summit last week.

The accession protocols were signed in Brussels on July 5. All NATO member states must approve them for the countries' accession.

On July 6, Estonia became one of the first NATO member states to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols.