Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson acknowledged on Tuesday March 14 that the likelihood of Finland joining NATO before Sweden had increased, particularly in the face of Turkey’s objections to Stockholm.
The chances of seeing Sweden join the Atlantic alliance at the same time as its Finnish neighbor have diminished, in particular because of the Turkish position. ” It’s clear that over the past few weeks the Turkish side have made it known that they are ready for Finland but not for Sweden. “, noted the head of the conservative government, Ulf Kristersson.
Ankara notably accuses Stockholm of passivity against ” terrorists Kurds living in Sweden, demanding dozens of extraditions over which the government does not have the final say. Following diplomatic incidents caused in January by the burning of a Koran in Stockholm by an extremist, the negotiations had been suspended for several weeks.
Applications accelerated after the Russian invasion
Candidates for a year as a direct result of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Sweden and Finland both still hope to become members of the alliance before the next NATO summit in Vilnius in July. But the way is largely clear for Helsinki, while Turkey still has a veto for Stockholm, despite the resumption of talks last week in Brussels.
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“ Turkey still does not think that we have gone all the way, and this was made clear during the meeting, while this dissatisfaction was not expressed for Finland “, explained the Swedish negotiator, Oscar Stenström. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had for the first time mentioned the possibility of joining in two stages in mid-February.
The fate in the hands of Turkey and Hungary
The 30 current members of NATO must all ratify in Parliament the accession of Sweden and Finland, long neutral then non-aligned. Only Turkey and Hungary have yet to give the green light and Ankara has publicly raised the possibility of separating its ratification for the two countries, giving its agreement only for Helsinki.
After multiple postponementsthe Hungarian Parliament began to examine the subject at the beginning of March with the support of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and NATO hopes for a decision ” quickly “. But the outlook on the Turkish side is much more uncertain as outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power for 20 years, is running for a new term in the May 14 elections. Sweden’s hope is that the path to NATO will open up for it after the elections in Turkey where the opposition presents a united candidate against Mr. Erdogan.
(With AFP)