Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said that Finland and Sweden will attend the NATO summit in Vilnius in July as full members of NATO. He noted that the decision on the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO depends on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“If not before Vilnius, then why following?” Sauli Niinistö said in an interview with STT agency (translation from TASS).
In the past year, Finland and Sweden have heard a lot of “encouraging words” regarding fast NATO membership, he said. “I see that this is already a problem within NATO. It is clear that the NATO countries were also surprised,” he added.
Sauli Niinistö added that Recep Tayyip Erdogan would make the decision on Finland and Sweden joining NATO. “I don’t think that under any circumstances he will succumb to the pressure of society. But something might happen if the bilateral talks between the US and Turkey move forward,” Mr. Niinistö said.
28 out of 30 countries have already ratified the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO. To ratify membership, Turkey put forward a number of conditions for both countries, including the extradition of several suspected terrorists. In January, following the Koran was burned outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara would not approve Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto allowed the consideration of the application for NATO membership separately from Sweden. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, during a meeting with her Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson, assured that the countries are going to join NATO at the same time.
According to the Finnish Iltalehti, the Finnish authorities are ready to announce their entry into NATO without Sweden. Sources of the publication noted that the geopolitical position of Sweden is very different from the situation in Finland, since it does not have a common border with Russia.
More details – in the material “Kommersant” “If in NATO, then the alliance.”
