STOCKHOLM
I moved here to Tukhoma at the beginning of August, and perhaps the most frequently asked question has been related to Finland’s and Sweden’s simultaneous NATO application.
Is it really the case that Finland won’t break away from the clutches somewhere and leave Sweden alone to fight with Turkey?
As recently as Monday, I explained on Swedish radio’s afternoon program that no, Finland will not betray and leave Sweden alone, not even though the Koran was burned here at the turn of the week and flags of the Kurdish organization PKK were waved here.
I repeated, for example, the foreign minister Pekka Haaviston (green) The reasons stated by Sälen at the security conference as well. Look at the map, Finland has been urged many times. What would it look like if the NATO map was otherwise uniform for Northern Europe, but there was a gap in it for Sweden.
Another, and to me newer and more interesting, Haavisto’s argument in Sälen was that Sweden’s accession is important to Finland for purely selfish reasons. If Finland was hit by a crisis or war, the supply routes would go through Sweden. Then it is best to belong to the same club.
Out loud for the first time: Finland to NATO even without Sweden
You can imagine my surprise when I listened to the Finnish foreign minister’s statement this morning, according to which Finland must also consider advancing to NATO on its own, if the negotiations for Sweden stall badly and for a long time.
It was a news bomb in Sweden. Exactly the thing that has been feared here all autumn.
I was on the live broadcast of Swedish radio again and I said that now official Finland has said it out loud for the first time: Finland can advance to NATO even on its own.
I quoted Haavisto’s statements to and the news agency Reuters, and I noticed differences in them. Did Haavisto hope for more time for the tripartite negotiations between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, or did he take a break as a matter of fact? What about when, for example, Turkey’s retaliation against Sweden has lasted so long that Finland has to start considering its own solutions.
The foreign minister’s speech raised question marks and contained speculations, which at least Haavisto has carefully avoided until now. Speculating foreign minister is a pair of words that is not used.
At the quickly convened press conference in the morning, the old Haavisto spoke again, speaking as if the morning’s words had never been spoken. Let’s move forward together.
Nothing has changed about the Swedish foreign minister
The Swedish Foreign Minister contacted by Swedish Radio from Brussels Tobias Billström (coc.) only wants to hear the latter Haaviston. Billström says that he spoke with Haavisto on the phone and that the Finnish line has not changed for him. Misinterpreted, says Billström on the radio. Let’s move forward together.
Senior researcher Jan Hallengren The Swedish Foreign Policy Institute considers Haavisto’s morning statement “a little thoughtless”.
In the background calls, I hear that, for example, some people in the parliament believe that Haavisto is giving Turkey more leverage with his speeches.
Hallengren does not believe that Haavisto’s statement will cause any harm. He reminds that, in the same way, Holland, which was under some elections, was in the teeth of Turkey. After the elections, the hype was over.
However, Hallengren reminds that the simultaneous NATO membership of Finland and Sweden is important for many reasons. One is, for example, that a very closely built defense cooperation does not work if one is part of NATO and the other is not.
The latest agreement on intensifying military cooperation was on Friday, which Haavistokin reminded of.
What do you think will be the most common question asked to Finns here in Stockholm in the future?