Nordic PM: Keep calm, we still plan to join NATO together
STOCKHOLM (AP) – In a strong show of unity, the prime ministers of Finland and Sweden on Thursday called for calm amid tensions with Turkey over their bids to join NATO and confirmed his intention to have the two countries join the military alliance at the same time.
A series of recent demonstrations in Sweden, including a Koran burning, has angered the Turkish government, which had already held off on approving the Nordic nations’ NATO membership while pushing them to crack down on exiled members of Kurdish groups they consider terrorist organizations.
“I think it is very important that we send a clear message today: Finland and Sweden applied together, and it is in everyone’s interest that we join NATO,” said Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.. “And both countries tick all the boxes when it comes to NATO membership.”
Marine and Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson discussed their pending NATO bid during a joint press conference in Stockholm on Thursday. “We started this journey together and we are making the journey towards membership together,” Kristersson said.
While pledging continued solidarity, Marin declined to speculate on “how many years Finland should wait” but said she did not like Sweden being described “as a kind of troubled child in the classroom.”
“I don’t think this is the case. Sweden also ticks all the boxes when it comes to NATO membership,” she said. “Sweden is not a troublemaker.”
Last month, a lone anti-Islam activist burned the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, while a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hung outside the city hall in the Swedish capital during a separate protest.
Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey will not allow Sweden to join NATO as long as the country allows protests that desecrate Islam’s holy book to take place. The Turkish leader suggested several days earlier that his country could ratify Finland’s application before taking any measures against Sweden’s.
NATO requires unanimous approval from its existing members to admit new ones. Turkey and Hungary are the only allies that did not formally support the accession of Sweden and Finland.
“Events and activities in Sweden in recent weeks have made the close and respectful dialogue with Turkey difficult,” Kristersson said at the press conference with Marin. “Individual manifestations carried out by small groups or even by individuals have consequences for how Sweden is perceived abroad.”
In Finland, where no recent anti-Turkish or anti-Islam demonstrations have taken place, violating religious freedom is a crime, and desecrating a book held sacred by a religious community would likely be against the law. As a result, the police would not allow a protest involving the burning of the Koran.
Marin explained that burning any religious books or objects in public was prohibited under Finnish law.
A survey published Thursday in the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat asked respondents if they thought Finland should join NATO even if it took Sweden longer or if the country should wait for their joint accession. About 53% said Finland’s membership should not be tied to Sweden’s timetable.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.