It is unrealistic to think that one member could block joining NATO
IT IS UNREALISTIC to think that even a single 30-member NATO member could block a country’s accession process. Jussi Halla-aho (PS), Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.
On Tuesday, Halla-aho gave an assessment in response to a question about Turkey’s comments on Finland’s and Sweden’s membership offers.
“It is mainly a question of Turkey’s domestic policy and the desire to promote the issues that are important to it,” he said at a press conference at the announcement of the NATO committee’s report.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated on Monday that he intends to reject applications from Finland and Sweden. Turkey has accused both countries of supporting terrorism – apparently for what it has described as an amnesty for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – and demanded that they lift their arms embargo on Turkey.
The North Atlantic Treaty stipulates that applications from aspiring members must be accepted with all existing members. Both Finland and Sweden submitted applications to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Halla-aho said Turkey has previously stated that it does not want a complicated accession process. He added that the Finnish government has created a solid foundation for the application.
Also Erkki Tuomioja The Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs (SDP) considered that the statements should be seen as an effort to implement domestic policy goals. He pointed out that Turkey had not expressed its reservations about the candidates in advance.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT