The likelihood that Finland will join NATO before Sweden has increased, although Sweden’s membership is only a matter of time. This was stated by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, quoted by Reuters.
Stockholm and Helsinki formally applied to join the alliance in May last year, abandoning decades of military non-alignment, a decision prompted by Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
However, the two countries have faced objections from Turkey, which claims they are harboring members of terrorist groups. The countries resumed negotiations on the membership process in Brussels last week.
Ankara has made it clear that it has greater objections to Sweden’s accession than Finland’s.
Kristershon pointed out that Turkey’s position in this regard remains unchanged, meaning that the two Nordic countries may not join together as they prefer.
“What we have faced in recent weeks is that the likelihood of our accession happening at a different time has increased,” he told a news conference in Stockholm before leaving for a visit to Germany.
“Ultimately, the question is not whether Sweden will become a member of NATO, but when,” summed up the prime minister.
Turkey is demanding that Stockholm take concrete action to fight the PKK terrorist groups and the Fethullah terrorist organization behind the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.
Sweden passed an anti-terrorism law last November in the hope that Ankara would approve its bid to join NATO. However, Turkey claims that the laws passed are not enough and nothing much has been done to stop the activities of terrorist groups.
Ankara has also provided a list of wanted persons to Sweden and expects the Scandinavian country to take swift action to show that Turkey’s demands are indeed being met. However, none of the convicts has yet been handed over to Turkey.
