According to the Foreign Minister, Finland does not intend to send anyone to the death penalty or to be tortured.
The ink on the document of mutual understanding barely had time to dry, when Turkey once again shocked Finland and Sweden by stalling the NATO process.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan thundered on Thursday at the end of the NATO summit in Madrid that Turkey cannot ratify the NATO memberships of Finland and Sweden unless the countries fulfill “agreed promises”.
Erdoğan demanded changes to Finland’s and Sweden’s terrorism legislation and consent to handovers.
Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (green) states in aam’s interview that no changes to the law have been agreed upon and no such changes are stated in the document.
When speaking about the promises, Erdoğan has referred to the discussion that took place in the negotiations along with the document.
Haavisto dismisses the thought.
– Everything that was agreed was put on paper.
– Different points of view can be presented, but there is no agreement on anything other than what is written in the text of the document, emphasizes Haavisto.
According to Haavisto, the views of the parties were different.
– Finland and Sweden have to be very careful not to promise anything on behalf of the parliament or the legislature, for example. Let’s move forward with the things that can be promised.
“The threshold for donations is very high”
Soon after the signing of the document, Turkey asked Finland and Sweden to hand over persons they suspected of terrorism.
In the morning of , Haavisto is asked if there are persons in Finland who have committed terrorist acts against Turkey.
Haavisto replies that he is not aware of “any open questions” at the moment.
– Previous (handover) requests have also been processed and reviewed appropriately in Finland. We are not aware of any listings that are currently open.
The document from Finland, Turkey and Sweden talks about facilitating extraditions, but mentions that they take place in accordance with European extradition treaties.
Professor of International Law Outi Korhonen described to on Thursday the formulation of handover registrations as a “legal gamble” that complicates the position of the Kurds.
Haavisto emphasizes in ‘s morning that Finnish citizens will not be extradited under any circumstances and that the threshold is very high anyway.
– When we talk about deportations, it requires that the person has a proven terrorist crime committed in Finland or the preparation of such a crime.
– And in Finland’s own commitments, we cannot send anyone to the death penalty or torture.
Tuesday’s agreement exempted arms exports to Turkey. It has caused concern about whether Turkey could buy and use Finnish weapons against the Kurds.
Haavisto answers soothingly.
– We have a foreign and security policy consideration in the arms export legislation. It has been applied in such a way that one does not want to give weapons to human rights violations.
Joining discussions on Monday
On Monday, Finland and Sweden will have NATO accession talks, after which the NATO member states – including Turkey – should write an accession protocol.
– Is anything set in stone, it may not have been. The schedules have come to life, Haavisto smiles.
Haavisto seems calm and confident, but states that everything is possible.
The actual ratification of the membership will come in time, so there are still many steps ahead.