Finland, Sweden sends delegations to Turkey: Haavisto
Finland and Sweden are expected to send delegations to Turkey on Wednesday, in an attempt to resolve problems surrounding Ankara’s resistance to the two Nordic counterparties’ NATO membership.
“We are sending our delegations to visit Ankara, in fact both Sweden and Finland. This will happen tomorrow so the dialogue continues,” said Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto at a panel in Davos on Tuesday.
Turkey, a longtime NATO member, has raised its objections to Finland’s and Sweden’s bid for NATO membership and criticized the two Nordic countries.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan often reiterated Turkey’s objections, saying that it would not approve Sweden’s and Finland’s attempts to join NATO, as he criticized them for not taking a clear stand against terrorist organizations.
Every country that wants to join the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance needs the unanimous support of the members of the military alliance. The United States and other member states have sought to clarify Ankara’s position.
Sweden and its closest military partner, Finland, have so far been outside NATO, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The two countries are cautious about antagonizing their big neighbor, but their security concerns have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The offer must be unanimously approved by NATO 30 members.