Published: Less than 50 min ago
Sweden and Finland need to join NATO at the same time, says Defense Minister Pål Jonson (M).
– We are taking measures to make this synchronized, he says.
Sweden’s new defense minister Pål Jonson has made his first trip abroad and it was to Finland, where he had a meeting with his Finnish colleague Antti Kaikkonen on Monday.
They both discussed bilateral defense cooperation between the countries, trilateral cooperation with Norway and the United States, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the NATO process.
“Hand in hand”
– The decision by Finland and Sweden to join NATO is a historic decision, it is a result of a fundamentally deteriorating security climate in Europe, and we are taking measures to make this synchronized, says Jonson at a press conference in Helsinki.
– We talk about going hand in hand, Sweden and Finland, and my party has always said that it is important that we have this continuity, he continues.
Pål Jonsson says that the new government’s policy is in line with the old government’s and that Finland is Sweden’s closest partner when it comes to security and defence.
Meetings in Ankara
Antti Kaikkonen is sure that the collaboration will work well.
– Sweden is Finland’s closest partner and will be so in the future as well. And in the future we will become NATO members but that does not change that fact.
During Tuesday, a delegation from the Ministry of Justice in Finland will meet Turkish representatives in Ankara to discuss the extradition cases that Turkey wants to see. The delegation will meet Kasim Cicek, foreign affairs officer at the corresponding ministry in Ankara.
Sweden also wants to discuss the NATO application with Turkey, and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) is planning a visit to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, when it will take place is unclear.