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President Tayyip Erdogan announced that his country will begin the official procedures for the ratification of Helsinki’s request to the transatlantic alliance, after highlighting the progress that the Nordics have made to satisfy Ankara’s initial demands by extraditing those classified as “terrorists Kurds”. On the other hand, Stockholm has not yet overcome the Turkish resentment and is waiting. NATO stressed the importance of accession beyond the times when it takes place.
This Friday, March 17, the accession states of Finland and Sweden as new members of NATO took new steps, albeit with different paths. The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, asserted that the national Parliament will begin the discussion to endorse Helsinki’s entry.
With this announcement, the opposition barriers for the Nordic country were raised. With the approval of all the members of the transatlantic alliance, now the chambers of the 30 members must vote in favor, something that is presumed to be a bureaucratic process.
Together with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinistro, Erdogan justified the new Turkish position by referring to the concrete measures taken to fulfill the promises made in the Madrid agreement —together with Sweden— to combat those whom Turkey classifies as terrorists and free exports defense.
“We have decided to start the ratification of Finland’s accession process to NATO in our parliament,” Erdogan said. Now, he begins a race against time to get the green light: in mid-April, the Turkish Parliament will be dissolved for the renewal of officials that will take place in the general elections on May 14.
Niinistro stated that they were satisfied with the new decision, which is “very important” for Finland due to its direct proximity to Russia and the fears generated by the war in Ukraine.
Regarding Sweden, the Turkish Presidency detailed a telephone call between the head of state and the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, where they reaffirmed that the talks with Stockholm will continue pending concrete progress in the agreed agreements.
“We are not against Sweden. But Sweden has opened its arms to the terrorists, it has opened its streets. I told the prime minister of Sweden to send us 120 terrorists. Since they have not given them to us, we cannot have a position positive for them,” argued Erdogan.
If Finland’s approval is ratified in the thirty parliaments, it will be a new expansion of the Alliance since North Macedonia joined almost three years ago.
Sweden awaits, but maintains its position
The reaction from the Nordic country to Erdogan’s announcement came quickly. Foreign Minister Tobias Billström remarked that they continue to expect Turkey’s approval before the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, next July.
However, he clarified that the discussion is based on “when” they will accept Sweden and not “if they will”.
“Our partners support us, both to ensure that we can become NATO members as soon as possible and to guarantee our security until such time as we are full members,” he said.
The Turkish blockade is due to the fact that it accuses Sweden of hosting members considered by Ankara to be terrorist groups, such as the Kurdish militant group PKK.
Stockholm has denied the accusation and refused to enable all extradition requests sent by the Turkish Government, justifying that the cases were considered by the country’s Justice. “There will be decisions that can be positive, but they can also be negative from Turkey’s point of view and that’s the way things are,” she said.
The diplomat added that they will honor the Madrid agreement, but will not do “neither more nor less.” While he was optimistic about getting approval after June 1, when the Swedish Parliament considers new anti-terrorism legislation.
For Billström, the key point is to get the last two ratifications (in addition to Turkey’s, Hungary’s is still missing, which was delayed, but it is estimated that there will be no problems in achieving it) and guarantee national security during the wait.
On the other hand, the dialogues between the parties were hampered after a far-right politician incinerated a copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, in Stockholm.
The Secretary General of the Alliance downplayed the setback received by Sweden and stressed that the fundamental thing is that it soon become a new member, even if it is not together with Finland.
“The most important thing is that both Finland and Sweden quickly become full members of NATO, not that they do so at exactly the same time,” he stressed.
In parallel, he added that the entry of Helsinki will have positive consequences for Stockholm and will strengthen its security. However, he clarified that he hopes that these processes “conclude quickly.”
With Reuters and EFE
