Finland allowed to join NATO without Sweden

Finland admits the possibility of further consideration of the country’s application for NATO membership without Sweden. This was stated by Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in a conversation with Yle, transmits Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

According to Haavisto, Finland still intends to join NATO together with Sweden. However, should obstacles arise again and again, Finland may have to act on its own. “These demonstrators are playing with the Finnish and Swedish security services,” Haavisto said, stressing that the recent demonstrations in Stockholm also prevented Finland from gaining NATO membership.

After that, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilstrom wrote that he was “in contact with Finland to find out what was really meant.”

Previously, January 8, Haavisto declaredthat the Finnish authorities plan to wait for the NATO countries to approve Sweden’s application to join the alliance before joining it themselves.

Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in mid-May last year against the backdrop of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine. At the end of June, the NATO leadership decided to invite these two countries to the alliance. December 4 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland explainedthat Moscow’s nuclear rhetoric was a key factor in prompting Finland to apply to join NATO.

The only countries that have not yet approved the membership of Finland and Sweden in the alliance are Hungary and Turkey. 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.

On the eve of January 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declaredthat Sweden should no longer wait for Turkey to support its application for NATO membership after the scandalous actions in Stockholm. In particular, on January 21, Danish politician, leader of the anti-Islamic Hard Deal party Rasmus Paludan burned Quran in front of the Turkish embassy.