NATO expansion: Measures to recognize Finland and Sweden “likely to drag out time” amid objections from Turkey
NATO’s plans to add two more Nordic countries to the military alliance “are likely to drag on” as Turkey sets a bloc against accepting Sweden and Finland as members.
That is the conclusion of a new report from International crisis group which found that Turkey “probably would not simply back down on its demands” to Stockholm and Helsinki.
“It uses the opportunity to raise complaints it has known for a long time, mainly with what it sees as permissive attitudes in Western capitals against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – the rebel group that, along with the US and the EU, is listed as a terrorist,” it said. that in the report.
This latest disappointing assessment comes when NATO leaders meet on Tuesday in Madrid for a summit which was expected to see Finland and Sweden join the alliance.
the President of Finland Sauli NiinistöSwedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenburg on Tuesday in the Spanish capital, but despite weeks of talks between senior officials, little progress appears to have been made.
“NATO unites nations,” Niinistö told reporters on Monday at his official residence in Helsinki, after meeting with visiting US senators.
The 73-year-old president tried to paint a positive picture ahead of the Madrid summit, saying that negotiations with Turkey “already looked a little better” than a week ago – with the Turks not canceling any recent meetings.
Niinistö would not, however, be deducted if he thought that there could be an agreement at the NATO leaders’ meeting, but instead said that Turkey has made more specific demands from Sweden than Finland.
Researcher Matti Pesu from the Finnish Institute of Foreign Policy wrote on Monday that he was also somewhat optimistic that a solution could be found, although he noted that many Turkish experts were much more pessimistic.
“The clear lowering of expectations gives Erdogan the opportunity to present himself as a gracious and solution-oriented player who, against all expectations, will meet and understand the situation in Finland and Sweden and the alliance’s common interests,” Pesu wrote.
“The Madrid summit will be the key. The attention it will receive will be considerable. Erdogan’s flexibility can give him a lot of goodwill and visibility. A Madrid summit without any results would erode NATO’s prestige.”
Mina Ålander from German Institute for International and Security Affairs summed up her thoughts to Madrid and said: “Such a high-level meeting is good but I still doubt it will be a breakthrough. As I have said before – it would be a positive surprise if yes.”
A little public appetite to give concessions to Ankara
The Turks have a laundry list of complaints with Finland and Sweden that they want to sort out before agreeing to lift their NATO membership block.
This includes preventing the recruitment, fundraising and propaganda activities of the Kurdish PKK group. Turkey also wants to extradite more than 30 people from Finnish and Swedish authorities – some are alleged PKK activists, others are alleged members of the Gülen movement which Erdogan believes was behind an attempt to overthrow him in 2016.
However, the latest opinion poll in Finland, which was released on Monday, shows little appetite to give in to Turkish demands.
A survey for Helsingin Sanomat The newspaper found that 70% of Finns do not think there should be any change in legislation or a change in the principles of appeasing Turkey.
Only 14% thought that Finland should agree to the Turkish demands.
The toughest stance against Turkey was taken by supporters of the Green and Left Alliance political parties, while supporters of right-wing extremist Finns were most willing to make concessions.
The same survey showed that 79% of Finns are now in favor of NATO membership – a record number since opinion polls began on this subject more than two decades ago – with 10% against joining NATO and 11% insecure.