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Ammon News - NATO Wednesday decided to invite Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic alliance.

During a summit in Madrid, Spain, to discuss pressing issues, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance leaders made a "historic" decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO after the two countries signed with Turkey on Tuesday a memo addressing Ankara's concerns.

Stoltenberg told journalists that the leaders approved the new strategic concept of the alliance, which differs from the old one and defines the common position of member states on combating terrorism, as well as cyber and hybrid threats.

He added that the alliance is in the process of launching a "NATO Innovation Fund," where €1 billion will be invested in start-ups and funds to develop dual-use emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

He noted that the leaders of the alliance agreed to bolster the alliance's front defences, strengthen its combat forces in the eastern part of the alliance and raise the state of alert for the alliance's forces to reach more than 300,000.

Stoltenberg added that the alliance would continue to support Ukraine, noting that a comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine was approved, including secure communications, fuel, medical supplies, protective shields, equipment to counter mines, chemical and biological threats and hundreds of portable anti-drone systems.

He noted that the comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine, aimed at further strengthening its defence and security institutions, demonstrates the Alliance's commitment to Ukraine's future, adding that a strong and independent Ukraine is vital to the stability of the Euro-Atlantic region.

On climate change, Stoltenberg said that NATO is committed to playing its role in mitigating the impact on its security, noting that the leaders are working on a new methodology to map military greenhouse gas emissions.

He stated that Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea would participate in the NATO summit for the first time and that the EU, Finland, Georgia and Sweden had joined the summit later.