Ankara: President Recep tayyip erdogan Said on Friday that Turkey would proceed with ratifying Finland’s NATO application, paving the way for the country to join the military bloc ahead of Sweden.
The breakthrough came when Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was in Ankara for a meeting. Erdogan And 10 months later both Finland and Sweden applied to become NATO members in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, abandoning decades of non-alignment.
“When it comes to fulfilling its pledges in the trilateral memorandum of understanding, we have seen that Finland has taken authentic and concrete steps,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara after his meeting with Niinisto.
With Erdogan’s agreement, Finland’s application can now go to Turkey’s parliament, where the president’s party and its allies have a majority. Confirmation is expected ahead of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.
Erdogan suggested on Wednesday that his country might consider annexing Finland after Niinisto’s visit.
NATO needs unanimous approval to expand from its 30 current members, and Turkey and Hungary have so far failed to ratify the Nordic neighbors’ admission.
The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too soft towards groups it considers terrorist organizations, including Kurdish groups, and has said it has fewer problems with Finland.
“Based on this sensitivity to our country’s security and the progress made on Finland’s NATO accession protocol, we have decided to start the ratification process in our parliament,” Erdogan said on Friday.
Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed an agreement in June last year to resolve differences over membership of the Nordic countries.
The breakthrough came when Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was in Ankara for a meeting. Erdogan And 10 months later both Finland and Sweden applied to become NATO members in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, abandoning decades of non-alignment.
“When it comes to fulfilling its pledges in the trilateral memorandum of understanding, we have seen that Finland has taken authentic and concrete steps,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara after his meeting with Niinisto.
With Erdogan’s agreement, Finland’s application can now go to Turkey’s parliament, where the president’s party and its allies have a majority. Confirmation is expected ahead of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.
Erdogan suggested on Wednesday that his country might consider annexing Finland after Niinisto’s visit.
NATO needs unanimous approval to expand from its 30 current members, and Turkey and Hungary have so far failed to ratify the Nordic neighbors’ admission.
The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too soft towards groups it considers terrorist organizations, including Kurdish groups, and has said it has fewer problems with Finland.
“Based on this sensitivity to our country’s security and the progress made on Finland’s NATO accession protocol, we have decided to start the ratification process in our parliament,” Erdogan said on Friday.
Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed an agreement in June last year to resolve differences over membership of the Nordic countries.
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