Erdogan vows to shock Sweden with Finland’s NATO membership decision

The decision on Finland’s membership in NATO, which Turkey can take, will shock Sweden, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a meeting with young people in the city of Bilecik. About it informs “RIA News”.

“If necessary, we can give a different message about Finland. Sweden will be shocked when we give a different message about Finland,” Erdogan said.

On January 28, the Expressen newspaper, citing a statement by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilström informedthat the process of the country’s accession to NATO is suspended. The Foreign Minister noted that the burning of the Koran at the Turkish embassy in Stockholm and protests criticizing the President of the Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan “did not facilitate” Sweden’s entry into the alliance.

Billström suggested that Sweden will become a full member of NATO in July 2023 – he expressed the hope that this issue will be resolved at the summit in Vilnius.

On January 21, Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, leader of the anti-Islamic Hard Deal party, burned the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy. Erdogan said that Sweden should no longer wait for support for its application to join NATO from Turkey after the scandalous actions in Stockholm.

In February, talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland about joining NATO were supposed to take place in Brussels, but they were postponed indefinitely. At the same time, on January 24, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto admitted the possibility of further consideration of the country’s application for NATO membership without Sweden, if obstacles arise again and again.

In 2022, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. The only countries from which they did not receive approval for this move were Turkey and Hungary. According to the agreements signed in June, Stockholm and Helsinki promised Ankara to investigate and stop any funding and recruitment activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), recognized as terrorist in Turkey. In addition, Sweden and Finland pledged to consider Turkey’s requests for the extradition of suspected terrorists, while Stockholm separately announced the tightening of anti-terrorism legislation in the country.