One possible solution currently considered is to ask Article 5 protections from NATO for the duration of the membership process.
The report discusses this, and mentions two reasons against doing that:
- What happens if you do it, and then the referendum votes against joining? You're screwed from both ends.
- Due to the previous reason, there will be extreme pressure to vote for joining in the referendum, making it not very democratic.
https://yle.fi/news/3-12272467
> "If Finland and Sweden applied for membership, we could decide on it overnight. You could be a member the very next day because you meet all the necessary membership criteria," said Rasmussen, who was Nato Secretary General from 2009 to 2014.
More interesting is that just a couple of years later all is forgotten and Russia is selling Turkey its most advanced S-400 air defense system, thus precipitating a diplomatic crisis with the US.
Middle Eastern politics: never a dull moment.