The Turkish President continues to block Sweden’s entry into NATO. At the same time, he hinted at a possible separate decision on Finland for the first time.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hinted at the possibility of Turkey agreeing to Finland joining NATO – without at the same time agreeing to Sweden’s membership. “If necessary, we can give a different answer regarding Finland,” Erdoğan said at a televised meeting with youth on Sunday. “Sweden will be shocked if we give a different answer for Finland”.
It is the first time that Turkey has indicated its willingness to treat the Finnish candidacy separately from the Swedish one. NATO member Turkey has been blocking the two countries from joining the western military alliance for months. As a prerequisite for its approval of Sweden’s application to join NATO, Ankara is demanding that Stockholm take tougher action against Kurdish activists, whom the Turkish government regards as “terrorists”.
Hungary has yet to agree
After a right-wing extremist burned a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm this week, Turkey indefinitely postponed a meeting with Sweden and Finland planned for early February about their intended accession.
In addition to Turkey, Hungary has yet to agree to NATO expansion. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced that the parliament in Budapest will vote next month on whether the two Nordic countries will join NATO.
