- Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the statement alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.
- Finland has taken “real actions” to address Turkey’s worries about terrorist organizations, says Sauli Niinistö.
- Finland and Sweden announced their intention to join NATO in May 2022.
Turkey‘s president has announced that his government will begin ratifying Finland’s NATO membership application, clearing the path for the country to join the security alliance after months of delay.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the statement alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, who said Finland has taken “real actions” to address Turkey’s worries about terrorist organizations.
Finland and Sweden announced their intention to join NATO in May 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which forced the two countries to surrender their long-held non-aligned status.
The move was a loss for Moscow, as the Ukrainian war triggered the type of NATO enlargement that Russia invaded Ukraine to prevent.
Almost all NATO leaders supported Finland and Sweden’s bids, but under NATO regulations, only one member state can block a new applicant’s admission.
‘Positively’
Erdogan of Turkey threw a spoke in the wheel when he declared he could not see both nations joining NATO “positively,” accusing them of harboring Kurdish “terrorist organizations.”
“We have decided to start the parliamentary ratification process of Finland’s NATO Accession Protocol,” Erdogan said at the news conference in Ankara.
Erdogan said he believes NATO “will become even stronger through Finland’s membership.”
“It is very good to hear this news,” Niinistö added.
Erdogan’s approval eliminates a key impediment to Finland’s Nato membership.
Separately, Hungary’s ruling party announced that it would support Finland’s entry. A parliamentary vote had been postponed after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Finland and Sweden of disseminating “outright lies” about his country’s performance on rule of law.
In late February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that while Turkey had raised some reservations about both Sweden’s and Finland’s applications, it was primarily concerned about Sweden’s.
On Friday, Niinistö urged Turkey to reconsider Sweden’s offer.
“I have a feeling that Finnish NATO membership is not complete without Sweden,” he said.
Yet Erdogan said Turkey would not modify its position to Sweden’s NATO candidature unless “positive steps” were done.
Turkey accuses Sweden of harboring members of terrorist organizations, which Sweden rejects.
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