Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s foreign minister, says that after further criticisms of Sweden from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland may need to reconsider its decision to advance toward NATO membership with Sweden.
Given that both Finland and Sweden have security concerns, joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization concurrently is still the “preferred option,” according to Haavisto, in an interview with YLE on Tuesday.
The matter needs to be evaluated in order to determine whether anything has occurred that would eventually prevent Sweden from joining the alliance, according to Haavisto. Still, he argued that it was too soon to make a choice.
Following the Nordic countries’ application to join NATO in May, it is the first time a Finnish policymaker indicates decoupling the bids. Turkey had protested their arrival but at a NATO summit in June allowed the procedure to continue despite their objections. Later, it was stated that it was “glad” with Finland’s cooperation while continuing to press Sweden to take stronger action against organizations that are prohibited in Turkey.
Following the weekend burning of the Qur’an in Stockholm by a far-right extremist, Erdogan disqualified himself from supporting Sweden’s application on Monday. Only two of NATO’s 30 members—Turkey and Hungary—have not yet ratified the applications. US officials reaffirmed their support for the Nordic proposals on Monday.
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