Finland said it might reconsider joining NATO to secede from Sweden in the face of obstacles Turkey faces

Finland The option to join should be considered NATO without SwedenHis foreign minister confirmed this Tuesday for the first time yet turkey Exclusion of approval of Sweden’s candidacy.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russias Sweden They applied for NATO membership last year after Moscow invaded Ukraine, ending decades of military non-alignment.

“We have to assess the situation, whether something has happened that in the long run prevents Sweden from moving forward,” said the foreign minister. Becca Haavistoto the station Yell.

However, he added that it was “too early to take a stand on this now” and that the joint demand remains the same “First choice”.

Swedish Foreign Minister, Tobias BellstromHe told the media on Tuesday that he was “in contact with Finland to find out what this really means.”

Haavisto later clarified his comments at a press conference, stating that It does not want to “speculate” on Finland’s accession alone “As both countries appear to be making progress,” they reaffirm their commitment to a joint application.

But, he said, “Of course, somewhere in our minds, we are thinking of different worlds in which some nations are permanently excluded from membership.”

Far-right Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan Set fire to a copy of The Quran Outside the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital, which angered Ankara and Islamic countries around the world.

Sweden should not expect us to support NATO.The Turkish president announced on Monday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“It is clear that those who caused such disgrace in front of our country’s embassy can no longer expect any favor from us regarding their application to join NATO,” Erdogan said.

Swedish leaders strongly condemned the burning of the Qur’an, but defended the broad definition of freedom of expression from his.

The incident occurred a few weeks after a group supporting armed groups Kurds in Syria Rojava CommitteeA statue of Erdogan has been hung from its ankles in front of Stockholm City Hall, sparking outrage in Ankara.

Haavisto said Anti-Turkish protests They have “significantly slowed down progress” on Finnish and Swedish applications to join the transatlantic military alliance.

“That is my opinion There will be a delayWhich will undoubtedly continue until the Turkish elections in mid-May.

turkey It has been pointed out in recent months that He has no major objections to entering Finland in NATO.

Helsinki has so far refused to speculate on the option of entering without Sweden, stressing that Advantages of co-joining with your close neighbor.

But “disappointment has been growing across Helsinki”, and “for the first time it has been said out loud that there are other possibilities”, he told France Press agency Matty PesoResearcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

“There has been a change” in the Finnish position, he said. “This Plan B is being said out loud.”

Haavisto also accused the protesters of Play safe Finland and Swedenactions “clearly intended to provoke Turkey”.

“We are going down a very dangerous path, because the protests are clearly delaying Turkey’s will and ability to pass this matter through parliament,” he said.

Beso noted that while Turkey has yet to give any indication that it will handle the two requests “separately,” it will be “interesting to see how Turkey reacts” to Haavisto’s comments.

In his press conference, Haavisto denied the existence of A.J Plan B.

“Such a course was not seen as possible. The north is very difficult to defend. Sweden has an important role to play in this,” he said.

Applications to join NATO must have been previously approved All members of the allianceof which Turkey is a part.

Ankara signed a Memorandum of Understanding With the two northern countries at the end of June, paving the way for the start of the accession process.

But Ankara claims that its demands have not been met, especially the demands of Extradition of Kurdish citizens whom Turkey wants to prosecute on charges of “terrorism”.

(With information from AFP)

Read on: