Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto made it clear on Monday that Finland wants to join NATO at the same time as Sweden. Nothing has changed on this line, he said at a press conference in Helsinki. On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated he would agree to Finland joining NATO “if necessary” – without Sweden. “Sweden will be shocked if we make a different statement about Finland.”
At the same time, he warned Finland not to make the same “mistakes” as its neighbour. Finland immediately contacted Turkey after Erdogan’s new statements. The security of Finland and Sweden belonged together and would continue to do so, Haavisto stressed on Monday. He hopes both countries will join before the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. However, the timetable is in the hands of Turkey and Hungary – the two members that have not yet ratified accession.
Erdogan has been blocking access for months
The two Nordic countries had decided in 2022, as a result of the Russian offensive war against Ukraine, after decades of not belonging to a military alliance, to join NATO. All 30 current members must approve the motions. However, Erdogan has blocked a recording for months. He accuses Sweden of supporting “terrorist organisations” such as the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK. He is also demanding the extradition of 130 alleged “terrorists”.
Last week, Erdogan said Sweden could not count on his country’s support after an Islamophobic politician burned a Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. Erdogan is currently in the election campaign: in the elections in May he will try for a third term.
Source: Krone
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