Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Tuesday called on Hungary and Türkiye to approve the Swedish and Finnish NATO applications as Ankara argues that the commitments of the trilateral deal are not fulfilled yet.
"All eyes are now on Hungary and Türkiye. We are waiting for these countries to ratify our applications. I think it would be important that this would happen preferably sooner than later," Marin told a joint news conference with other Nordic leaders.
Finland and Sweden last week reiterated they would join NATO at the same time, presenting a united front to Türkiye.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.
However, Türkiye voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
For Sweden and Finland to become NATO members, their applications must be ratified by all 30 NATO members. So far, 28 have already done so – only Türkiye and Hungary have votes still pending.
A trilateral memorandum at the NATO Madrid summit signed among the countries in June stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to terrorist group PKK's Syrian offshoots, the YPG and the PYD, or the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ) – the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.
Sweden and Finland agreed earlier this summer to assure Türkiye of their support against security risks.
Most recently, Sweden’s newly elected Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that the Swedish government will redouble efforts to implement the trilateral memorandum signed with Türkiye.
Speaking at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Kristersson said: “The trilateral memorandum has established new platforms for cooperation in the fight against terrorism between Sweden and Türkiye. Counterterrorism is a priority for Sweden ahead of and after our accession to NATO.”
“I am very prepared to go to Ankara as soon as possible,” Kristersson added, saying that he conveyed this to Türkiye and that a timetable is being planned.
“We take our commitments very seriously,” he underlined.
“We now are implementing a new legislation – that would mean a lot for our possibilities to fulfill our obligations according to the agreement. We now have more tools to prove in practice that we are delivering what we promised," Kristersson said further.
Commenting on Kristersson’s words, Ömer Çelik, the spokesperson for Türkiye's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Monday said: "We do not find statements sufficient until they are implemented and materialized. Because we have heard a lot of words, striking statements, very elegant and very aesthetic words from our European friends, but still we witnessed actions of terrorist organizations on the streets of those countries as well as terrorist propaganda on their televisions.”
