Information on the progress of Finland’s NATO membership is expected from the visit.
Katriina Töyrylä,
Topias Peltonen
11:50•Updated 12:08
President Sauli Niinistön and the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tomorrow’s meeting has moved from Istanbul to Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
Information on the progress of Finland’s NATO membership is expected from the visit.
The news agency Reuters reported yesterday, based on anonymous government sources, that Turkey plans to ratify Finland’s NATO membership before the elections in May.
Later, Erdoğan told the Turkish public broadcasting company TRT that Turkey will stick to what has been promised to Finland.
Niinistö confirmed that the reason for the visit has been known for some time.
– The Turks have hoped that I will be there to confirm the answer when they announce this decision, Niinistö said yesterday in a statement provided by the presidential office.
Niinistö said on Thursday morning that he had a conversation with the Prime Minister of Sweden by Ulf Kristersson just before his trip to Turkey. According to Reuters’ sources, Finland’s NATO application would be accepted separately from Sweden’s application.
Also the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán will travel to Turkey today, Thursday. Apart from Turkey, Hungary is the only NATO country that has not ratified the NATO applications of Finland and Sweden. Ylen’s NATO special reporter Mika Hentunen believes that the timing of Orbán’s visit indicates that the ratification is progressing for Hungary as well.