Biden refutes Turkey and praises NATO’s bid from Sweden, Finland | National
WASHINGTON (AP) – Flanked by Finnish and Swedish leaders, President Joe Biden strongly supported their applications to join NATO on Thursday as Russia’s war in the heart of Europe challenges continental security. The US president rejected Turkey’s opposition, insisting that the two countries “meet all NATO requirements and a little more.”
Biden went to the White House Rose Garden performance with his hands on the shoulders of Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö for an event designed to emphasize US support for their NATO candidacy.
The constant display of support was directed not only at Russia, but also at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had previously emphasized his opposition to the two countries joining the military alliance. Erdogan’s new comments raised uncertainty about whether he is determined to derail expansion, which needs the unanimous support of all 30 NATO members, or whether he is using the threat to obtain concessions from the two nations as well as the United States.
Biden, in a remarkable promise, said that the United States and its allies would “deter and confront all aggression while Finland and Sweden are in this process of accession.”
Once neutral Finland and Sweden abandon what in Sweden’s case has been 200 years of military freedom of alliance, driven to join NATO’s mutual defense pact in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war there.
Acceptance by the countries would bring into the alliance two well-equipped, modern militaries outside Russia’s doorstep. It would also serve as a powerful and lasting reprimand to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the consequences of his invasion.
The two leaders also visited the Capitol and met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said she was honored to “offer the fullest support and support for your request to become part of NATO, the largest defense alliance in world history.”
Separately, the Senate approved $ 40 billion in new financial and military assistance to Ukraine, and sent the bill to Biden for his signature.
In the White House, Prime Minister Andersson said: “Russia’s full-scale aggression against a sovereign and democratic neighbor … was a watershed for Sweden. And my government has come to the conclusion that the security of the Swedish people will be best protected within the NATO alliance.”
Not only are Sweden and Finland fully qualified, she said, but “having two new NATO members in the north will increase security for our alliance.”
Even as the three leaders came together, however, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hardened his public stance against the expansionist efforts. He accused the two countries – as he often does to the United States and Western nations in general – of being too receptive to Turkish Kurdish groups that Erdogan calls terrorists.
Erdogan’s sudden objections on that point have created uncertainty in an application process that had been expected to gain rapid approval.
“We have told our relevant friends that we would say no to Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, and we will continue on our path like this,” Erdogan said in a video broadcast in Turkey on Thursday.
Yet U.S. officials are still hopeful. And NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, “I am convinced that we will make a quick decision to welcome both Sweden and Finland to join the NATO family.”
Biden said he began private talks that led to the two Scandinavian leaders’ “momentary” decision to join NATO as early as December, even as Russian forces gathered on the border with Ukraine, ahead of Putin’s invasion on February 24.
The United States and its allies say the invasion, although unsuccessful in Russia’s goal of ousting Ukraine’s pro-Western government, only strengthens Western security alliances.
Finland’s Niinistö on Thursday credited Biden’s months of encouragement for having played a crucial role in the decision of his country and Sweden to cooperate with NATO to meet any future threats from Russia or others.
The Finnish leader, who spoke after Biden in the rose garden, addressed some of his comments directly to the Turkish president.
“As NATO allies, we will commit to Turkey’s security, just as Turkey will commit to our security,” Niinistö said. “We take terrorism seriously. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and we are actively committed to fighting it.”
The Finnish and Swedish leaders said their governments were already in talks with Erdogan to try to overcome Turkey’s opposition “in an open and constructive manner”.
“New members joining NATO are not a threat to any nation,” Biden said. “It never has been.”
Erdogan has said that Turkey’s objection stems from complaints with Sweden’s – and to a lesser extent Finland’s – perceived support for the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and an armed group in Syria that Turkey sees as an extension of the PKK. The conflict with the PKK has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.
Turkey also accuses Sweden and Finland of harboring supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim priest accused by the Turkish government of a 2016 military coup attempt.
The objections reflect long-standing Turkish complaints about even more widespread US support for Kurds, as well as Gulen’s presence in America.
Turkey’s branding of terrorists extends to Kurdish forces serving as close allies to the United States in Syria.
Erdogan has a history of using high-profile NATO events to advance Turkey’s interests, especially when it comes to Western support for the country’s fight against Kurdish extremists. At a NATO summit in 2009, he refused to approve Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the new secretary general of the 30-nation alliance and demanded that a Kurdish TV channel in Denmark’s home country be shut down first.
A decade later, at a summit in London in 2019, he threatened to block NATO’s efforts to strengthen the defense of the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – after being criticized for launching a ground attack on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Both times he eventually backed down.
The speculation this time is more about buying American fighter jets than objections to how Finland and Sweden handle Kurdish extremists. Turkey was released from the F-35 Advanced Fighter Development Program after Erdogan bought a Russian air defense system.
Since then, Turkey has pressured the United States to sell new F-16 fighter jets or at least to renovate its existing fleet. Erdogan rejected Finland’s and Sweden’s candidacy this week, saying diplomats from the two countries should not even bother to come to Turkey to discuss the issue. At the same time, he sent Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington.
Asked about possible guarantees for Finland’s and Sweden’s security while their NATO bids are being considered, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “We would be prepared to work with Finland and Sweden to respond to any aggression that occurred.”
Lorne Cook in Brussels and Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed.