Finland does not intend to depend on Sweden on the NATO route

There is no support for hanging Sweden on Natovägen if the Swedes face stronger headwinds, according to central voices in Finnish politics.

But mistrust and threats of a government crisis created some concern about the decision-making power in Stockholm.

– It is clear that I thought that if the government lost the vote, it could then make decisions that may be needed in the process, says Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in an interview with a group of Swedish journalists at the Foreign Ministry in Helsinki.

He has just met the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament to answer questions about why what would be such a rapid process for NATO membership has encountered problems directly in the form of Turkey, one of NATO’s 30 member states.

Sweden’s and Finland’s applications are blocked by the country whose president Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims the two countries are too soft on Kurdish terrorism. He is also critical of the fact that Sweden and Finland do not export weapons to Turkey.

But the criticism of Sweden seems to be bigger and louder.

Release Sweden

The Foreign Affairs Committee’s chairman Jussi Halla-Aho has raised the idea that Finland can lead NATO on its own if required. A prominent researcher at the country’s foreign policy institute was critical when President Sauli Niinistö said that Sweden’s cause is ours, and that there would be no question of hanging on to Sweden.

– One member after another spoke spontaneously and said that we should go hand in hand, we should not divide and not let anyone else do it either, Haavisto says about his meeting with the committee.

He says that Jussi Halla-Aho, who was absent, does not represent the majority in the committee.

It would be an invitation to Turkey, and ultimately to Russia, if Finland and Sweden ended up on different tracks, says another experienced player in Finnish politics. Turkey would get evidence that they can demand things and get through it, and Russia could point to divisions in NATO.

And it would not be in Finland’s interest to release Sweden either, purely strategically and defensively. It would be a completely different thing then to arrange the defense of Finland.

Difficult to understand

The person says he is convinced that the two countries will move forward together.

At the same time, the person finds it difficult to understand why the opposition in Sweden proceeded with a no-confidence vote shortly after the NATO decision. Why was the election not awaited for a chance to change ministers and government?

But Sweden and Finland, despite the Swedish domestic political tours, are on their way to join NATO. The NATO General Secretariat will hold meetings between the two countries and Turkey in the future, after a first between the three countries that just did not give anything. A meeting is scheduled for Monday in Brussels, according to information to TT from NATO sources.

Have patience

Pekka Haavisto and several others that TT meets in Helsinki emphasize that it is important to be patient, it can take time. He does not dare to say whether a decision to open membership negotiations can be made at the NATO summit in Madrid on 29-30 June.

– The clock is ticking and the NATO countries also have other topics on the agenda in Madrid, he says and mentions Ukraine and the new strategic concept for NATO.

Finland and Sweden have worked closely and coordinated with each other during the various steps towards the NATO decision in the spring, even though they sometimes ended up a little out of step. Finland has often been a little ahead and has a different history, with Russia as its neighbor. A rapidly growing, unprecedented NATO-positive opinion among Finns was driving.

The Swedish government has a widely used saying that everything changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

Shortly after that, remembers Pekka Haavisto, his Swedish colleague Ann Linde made it clear that “if you are so worried, we should probably be too.”

– I am very happy that we have gone hand in hand during the spring.

Facts

Pekka Haavisto

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