The USA, Sweden, Finland will soon seek a green light from Turkey towards NATO
Finland and Sweden on Thursday joined the United States in asking Turkey for an early green light to join NATO, saying they have fulfilled promises Ankara sought on militants.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and the Swedish and Finnish foreign ministers, meeting jointly in Washington, avoided venting frustration or threatening Turkey, the only nation to hold up the Nordic nations’ applications to join the transatlantic alliance.
“I am convinced that NATO will formally welcome Finland and Sweden as members soon,” said Foreign Minister Antony Blinken at a joint press conference.
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“Both countries have taken significant concrete steps to meet their commitments, including those related to security concerns on the part of our ally Turkey,” Blinken said.
Turkey has demanded that the two countries take a tougher stance against Kurdish militants it considers terrorists in return for backing its NATO bid.
Last week, Sweden extradited Mahmut Tat, who is wanted by Ankara for membership in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said the commitments both countries made earlier this year to Turkey “were largely fulfilled”.
He expressed hope that Sweden and Finland would join by February, the date when the other opening state, Hungary, has promised to approve their accession.
“Of course, what we still lack is a clear date and a clear plan from the Turkish parliament to address this issue,” Haavisto said.
“We know that Turkey is going to elections. Of course, our hope is that this decision will come from Turkey sooner rather than later,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is up for re-election in June and some experts have speculated that he will show an uncompromising attitude until then.
Sweden and Finland both have close ties to Western militaries but have historically stopped short of open alliances for fear of provoking neighboring Russia.
Their hesitation changed after Russia invaded Ukraine, which had tried unsuccessfully for years to join NATO, which pledges mutual defense to all its members.