Finland still wants to join NATO together with Sweden despite the latter’s increased disagreements with Ankara caused by a recent wave of anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam protests, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Saturday.
"We have sent an obvious signal, and an obvious message to Türkiye and also to Hungary ... that we want to enter NATO together, and this is in the interest of everyone," Marin told the Munich Security Conference.
"We want to join together with Sweden at the same time. It’s not only because we are good neighbors and partners, but it’s also to do with very concrete matters – the security planning of NATO," she said.
Meanwhile, Finland’s Defense Minister Mikko Savola Saturday told The Associated Press (AP) that Finland would prefer the two countries join the alliance. Still, as it has warned, it wouldn’t hold up the process if Türkiye decides to approve Finland but not Sweden.
"No, no. Then we will join," Savola said in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.
"Sweden is our closest partner," Savola said. "Almost every week, our defense forces are practicing together and so on. It’s intense cooperation, and we also fully trust each other. But it’s in Türkiye’s hands now."
Savola said he hopes Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, will become a member of the alliance before a NATO summit in July.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Türkiye saying yes to Finland but no to Sweden would present a difficult situation.
"Our hands are, in a way, tied. We have applied for membership. Should we now say that ‘No, we cancel our application?’ No, that we can’t simply do," Niinisto said.
Türkiye has signaled it is ready to receive Finland into the alliance – but not Sweden.
The Nordic country’s NATO bids also came up during a visit to Türkiye Thursday by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg who said it was time to ratify Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the alliance.
"I believe the time is now to ratify Finland and Sweden," Stoltenberg said.
"The main issue is not whether Finland and Sweden are joining simultaneously. The main issue is that Finland and Sweden join as soon as possible, and it is, of course, Türkey's decision whether to ratify both protocols or only one protocol," Stoltenberg told reporters further in Munich on Friday.
A scandalous mid-January protest in Stockholm wherein an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hanged by its feet in front of the city hall has particularly impaired negotiations, with a separate Quran burning session as the boiling point.
Türkiye summoned the Swedish ambassador and canceled a visit by Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen and Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Ankara. Amid an outpouring of international denouncements, dozens of Turkish officials, including defense and foreign ministers and opposition party leaders, slammed Sweden for allowing the burning of Islam’s holy book by a far-right politician.
Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned decades of non-alignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required.
Ankara said Sweden must first take a more explicit stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements posing a security threat to Ankara.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance. But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary to gain NATO membership.
Ankara has long criticized Stockholm for housing members of various terrorist organizations, particularly members of the PKK and, in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) – the organization behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.
Ahead of a historic NATO summit, the three countries signed a trilateral deal in June that prevented a Turkish veto. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for terrorists. In addition, the joint directive states that Finland and Sweden "will not provide support to ... the organization described as FETÖ" and terrorist groups."