Finland and Sweden joined the United States on Thursday in urging Turkey to give the green light to NATO membership, saying they had met Ankara’s security demands.
US foreign policy chief Antony Blinken and his Swedish and Finnish counterparts refrained from criticizing Turkey, which still blocks the two northern countries’ membership of the Atlantic bloc, at a joint press conference in Washington after the trilateral talks.
“I am sure that NATO will soon officially accept Finland and Sweden into its ranks.said the US Secretary of State. “Both countries have taken significant concrete steps to fulfill their commitments, including to the security interests of our ally Turkey.“, he added.
Turkey has been blocking the expansion of the Atlantic alliance since May, demanding the extradition of several Kurdish citizens from Turkey who have been exiled or have taken refuge in Sweden and, to a lesser extent, Finland. Last week, Sweden expelled one of them, Mahmut Tat, who was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison in Turkey for belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and the European Union.
Turkey’s pressure continues ahead of the 2023 elections
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pekka Haavisto, said that the two countries’ commitments to Turkey were:completely filled“. He hoped that Sweden and Finland could join NATO in February, a date put forward by the other country, Hungary, for the Hungarian parliament to ratify the membership.
“Of course, what we still lack is a clear deadline and a clear plan from the Turkish parliament to settle this issue.said Mr. Haavisto. “We know that there will be elections in Turkey. Of course, we hope that this decision of Turkey will be as soon as possible.“.
Next June presidential and legislative elections are scheduled in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power since 2003, hopes to remain in charge of the country, and experts expect him to be inflexible until then to satisfy his conservative electorate.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden submitted a joint bid to join the Atlantic alliance in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment. The 30 NATO member countries must unanimously accept this.
Source: Le Figaro
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