Foreign policy experts told that after the Turkish elections, the NATO tension will calm down.
Director of the Foreign Policy Institute Mika Aaltolan according to Finland may still have to think about whether it is possible to help Sweden’s NATO membership more from within the community than from outside.
However, it is not yet time for that.
– Temperance is an asset and the elections are approaching in Turkey, says Aaltola.
According to him, the situation will calm down after Turkey’s spring elections, and membership can be negotiated more calmly among the state leaders in the summer.
According to Aaltola, Finland should think about how much would be lost if Finland and Sweden did not follow the same path to NATO. He says that Turkey is taking advantage of the situation.
– It’s a negotiation tactic, which Turkey also falls into. The question is whether it is worth going at least right away. Sweden’s membership is extremely important to us.
Leading researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Matt Pesu also sees that the negotiations will proceed after the elections. According to Pesu, Sweden’s membership in particular has become an internal political pawn during the elections.
However, Pesu says in an interview with that Turkey would not have said that Sweden would not qualify for NATO. In foreign policy, it can be a matter of word choices. However, according to Pesu, Turkey ultimately decides on the membership of Finland and Sweden.
– Finland’s means are quite limited. It’s as if we are a surrogate sufferer, we have to wait for how others act, says Pesu in an interview with Radio Suomen.
Pesu refers, among other things, to how other NATO countries would react if Finland were accepted into NATO before Sweden. Finland, Sweden and also the United States have emphasized to Turkey and other NATO members that the countries join together.
Researchers: Sweden is perhaps the most important country for Finland
Both researchers consider Sweden to be perhaps the most important country for Finland. The importance of Sweden is highlighted by the fact that Finland needs, for example, the Swedish coast for security of supply.
NATO’s aid from its allies to Finland also depends on Sweden’s connections.
– Sweden is a very concrete security policy issue for Finland, says Pesu.
According to Aaltola, Russia is also satisfied with the difficulty of membership negotiations.
Aaltola says that anti-NATO extremist groups partly dominate the public debate in Sweden.
You can discuss the topic on 25.1. until 11 p.m.
Also listen to: