Brussels: Siltanews – News Desk
The prime ministers of candidate countries for NATO membership, Sweden and Finland, plan to meet in Stockholm, a day after Russian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Helsinki could get the green light from Ankara, but not Stockholm.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is the first head of government to receive Swedish colleague Ulf Kristersson since he took office last year, Telegrafi reports. In the meeting, they will likely discuss stopping the process for the admission of the two Nordic countries to NATO. Finland and Sweden submitted their application for membership last year, but Turkey has blocked the process for a while.
The Turkish president said on Wednesday that his country is looking positively at Finland’s request for membership in NATO, but that it does not support Sweden’s candidacy. “Our attitude towards Finland is positive, but as far as Sweden is concerned, it is not like that”, Erdogan said regarding the candidacy of the two countries to join the North Atlantic Alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not support Sweden’s request for NATO membership. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the transatlantic defense pact after Russia invaded Ukraine. The nations sought to win Turkey’s support after it suddenly raised objections, but Ankara suspended talks last month when a far-right Danish politician burned a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, in Stockholm.
“Sweden should not try at this point. We will not say ‘yes’ to their application to NATO as long as they allow the burning of the Koran,” Erdogan said. He signaled that Turkey could agree to Finland joining NATO, but Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, said that “we and Sweden have applied together”.
Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that did not ratify the membership of Sweden and Finland, and any decision on enlargement must be taken by unanimous agreement.