Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already made a decision on Finland’s accession to NATO, which will be officially announced on Friday during a visit by the Finnish head of state, Helsinki announced on Wednesday.
Last Friday, Erdogan already hinted that he would fulfill the promise made in Helsinki to respond favorably to Finland’s request to join the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkey has had reservations with NATO over Finnish and Swedish membership requests since last year, but this Wednesday the Turkish parliament announced it would have to ratify Finland’s accession to the organization.
When asked by journalists whether the Turkish parliament should ratify Finland’s accession, Erdogan reiterated his approval.
“We will do our part. We will keep our promise. We will meet with the Finnish president on Friday and we will keep our promise”assured the Turkish leader.
On Friday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will meet Erdogan in Helsinki and has already assured that the question of his country’s accession to NATO is part of the work agenda.
Niinisto also said he has been in contact with Sweden, whose process of joining the Atlantic Alliance could be separate from Finland’s accession, bearing in mind the opposition that Turkey continues to lead in this process, accusing Stockholm of collaborating with insurgents terrorist movements.
This week, Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, acknowledged ahead of his country that Finland must be prepared to join NATO, saying his government is prepared for that situation.
“We do not hide that we prefer to be ratified together, to make the journey together, but we respect the possibility of separating accessions in time”Kristersson said.
Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional policy of military non-alignment and applied to join the Atlantic Alliance in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Source: DN
