Finland’s foreign minister warned Tuesday that his country could join NATO without neighboring Sweden if Turkey continues to block their joint bid to join the military alliance.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto later backtracked, but his comments were the first time a senior government official from either Nordic country gave the impression of raising doubts about the NATO joint club at a time when the alliance seeks to provide a united front against Russia. war in Ukraine.
Sweden and Finland rushed to apply for the NATO club after Moscow’s invasion, abandoning their long-standing policy of non-alignment. His club is asking for approval from all existing NATO members, adding that Turkey, which has so far blocked expansion, said Sweden specifically will have to crack down on exiled Kurdish militants and their supporters.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden not to wait for his candidacy following weekend protests in Stockholm by an anti-Islam activist and pro-Kurdish groups.
Asked a day later if it still made sense for Finland to continue with the Swedes, Haavisto told broadcaster YLE that his country “assesses the scenario if it turns out that Sweden’s candidacy is blocked for a long time. “
Haavisto later told reporters in parliament that his comment was “inaccurate” and that Finland’s ambition to join NATO with Sweden remained unchanged.
He said he had spoken to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who under pressure in Haavisto that the army bloc would like the two nations to register simultaneously.
“But of course there have been considerations within NATO about how the [recent] incidents in Sweden will be scheduled,” Haavisto said.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, who visited Ukraine on Tuesday, weighed in on the NATO discussion, saying “we have to take it easy. “”We have to wait until elections are held in Turkey” in May before the joint NATO primaries of Finland and Sweden advance. Offer to purchase.
On Sunday, Erdogan announced that Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections would be held on May 14, a month ahead of schedule. Apart from Turkey, Hungary has yet to ratify the NATO club formed by Finland and Sweden. All 28 NATO members have already done so.
Until now, Sweden and Finland had pledged to join the alliance.
“This is the first crack in the hitherto quite impressive unity between Sweden and Finland,” said Paul Levin, director of Stockholm University’s Institute of Turkish Studies. Membership in NATO, through Sweden’s very liberal free speech laws. If Turkey persists in blocking accession, I suspect that Finland will at some point approve it alone.
Matti Pesu, a senior fellow at Finland’s Institute of International Affairs, Haavisto’s comment “was the first public signal that there is a plan B if Sweden’s application for the NATO club is frozen any longer. “
He said Finland “nevertheless continues to place absolute emphasis on simultaneous access to the alliance with Sweden. “
“There are deep reasons to continue NATO’s adventure with Sweden,” Pesu said. “Having Sweden as NATO’s best friend is an important interest for Finland’s security. Finland deserves only other opportunities if there was a serious option of a significant delay in Sweden’s application to NATO and only if NATO allies welcomed Finland’s accession without Sweden.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Stockholm was “in contact with Finland to find out what this actually means. “”
In a memorandum of understanding signed through the 3 countries at a NATO summit last year, Sweden and Finland pledged not to Kurdish militant teams and to lift arms embargoes imposed on Turkey after its incursion into northern Syria in 2019.
Pro-Kurdish and anti-Turkish protests in Stockholm confuse the process. On Saturday, a Danish far-right activist held a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, where he burned the Koran, Islam’s holy book. Another pro-Kurdish demonstration took position later on Saturday in the Swedish capital.
The Swedish government has tried to distance itself from the protests, while insisting that protests are conducted through freedom of expression.
Turkey responded angrily to the protests, canceling a plan to Ankara through Sweden’s defense minister. The protests took a stand in front of Swedish diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul.
Erdogan criticized the Swedish government for allowing the burning of the Koran.
“It is transparent that those who allowed such infamy to occur in front of our embassy can no longer expect any charity from us in relation to their application for NATO membership,” he said.
He also criticized the pro-Kurdish demonstration, accusing Sweden of allowing “terrorist organizations to become savages in its avenues and streets. “He said that if Sweden doesn’t show respect for Turkey or Muslims, then “they won’t see any of our NATO problems. “
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