Finland and Sweden may soon formally seek to join NATO after Russian aggression in Ukraine sparked increased support in those two countries for a union with the security alliance.

In this regard, the media have reported that the Finnish Government is planning to make the proposal for the country's membership in NATO on Sunday, which was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pekka Haavisto, at a press conference in Helsinki. on Thursday.

As a result, the proposal would then be put to a parliamentary vote with a plenary session scheduled for Monday morning.

Haavisto told reporters that his country is in close contact with the Swedish Foreign Ministry as Sweden also considers NATO membership.

And of course there has been a backlash from Russia, which has said it sees such a move as a "threat" and that "expanding the military alliance will not increase stability and security in Europe or the rest of the world."

Responding to its neighbor's announcement of its intention to apply for NATO membership, the Kremlin described Finland's actions as unfortunate and "obviously another reason for a symmetrical response".

But what is the membership process?

According to Euronews, the Telegraph reports that since its inception in 1949, the alliance has been based on an "open door policy", which is included in Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, the founding text.

However, only European countries are allowed to apply for membership.

Among the criteria, a candidate must have a consolidated democratic system, an open market economy and the ability to contribute to NATO military operations.

Once a country expresses its desire to join the alliance, member states evaluate the application and decide whether they want to invite the aspirant to start accession talks.

If they "issue" the invitation, the process officially begins and technical talks begin in Brussels between specialized teams, the Telegraph reports.

These talks are divided into two sessions: the first focuses on political, defense and military issues, while the second focuses on shared resources and budget.

Thus, candidates may be required to undergo some reforms in order to meet the alliance's military and security standards.

In this case, Finland and Sweden have been cooperating with NATO for years, so these technical discussions are expected to be calm and direct.

Following the successful completion of the negotiations, NATO drafts an accession protocol, which serves as an amendment to the Washington Treaty and allows the candidate to become a legal party to the text.

The protocol then goes to the member states: each of them must vote to ratify it.

And the unanimous request means that a single "NO" can block the entire accession process, a condition that resembles the much longer and much more complex method of EU enlargement.

If the protocol gains unanimous support, the alliance's secretary general, a position currently held by Jens Stoltenberg, formally invites the candidate to join NATO.

After joining the selected group, the new member immediately benefits from the protection provided by Article 5, the principle of collective protection: "All for one, one for all".

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