Turkey: Erdogan gives green light to Finland to join NATO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to approve Finland’s planned NATO membership. Erdogan said Friday in Ankara that the ratification process would begin in parliament. Erdogan has thus at least partially abandoned his blockade against NATO’s northern expansion. Because unlike Finland Sweden has also ratified Waiting from Ankara. About Sweden More to think about, Erdogan said after a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. Finland’s membership would not be complete without Sweden, he said.

The Turkish parliament could approve Finland’s accession protocol by mid-April, when it will stop working before Turkish parliamentary elections on May 14. So far, only Turkey and Hungary are missing approvals for the merger.

28 of the 30 members of the alliance have already agreed

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland decided last year to apply for NATO membership after a long period of military nonalignment. 28 of the 30 members of the current coalition have long approved the merger, and a parliamentary vote is expected soon in Hungary.

Turkey, on the other hand, has been blocking dual access for months. Their objections are primarily aimed at Sweden, which they accuse of a lack of action against “terrorist organizations”. Ankara is primarily concerned with the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK.

Sweden previously wanted to join Finland

Since submitting their application in May 2022, Sweden and Finland have repeatedly insisted that they want to be admitted to NATO simultaneously and “hand in hand”. The Turkish blockade, which intensified after several Islamophobic protests in Stockholm earlier in the year, further complicated this parallel operation. So there have been rumors for some time that Turkey will agree to Finland joining NATO first, and then Sweden may follow suit.

People in northern Europe have been speculating lately that Erdogan will leave Finland first and wait for Sweden. During a visit to President Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Wednesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed that his country is also ready for this possibility – even if he wants to partner with Finland. Scholz emphasized that Germany would like to see the two Nordic countries in NATO as soon as possible.

(DPA/SMK)See comments