Sanna Marin is the first head of government that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson receives since the formation of the government. Officially, the meeting will be about the EU presidency and the security policy situation, but the countries’ NATO application is in focus.
– Kristersson is of course interested in how the discussions go behind the scenes in Finland regarding the joint application, says Liselotte Lindström.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said several times that Turkey may approve only Finland’s application. This has led to discussions about whether Finland could proceed with the NATO application without Sweden. But experts don’t think that will happen.
– It is extremely unlikely that Finland would leave Sweden in the lurch, says Tomas Ries, docent in security policy and strategy at the Norwegian Defense Academy in Morgonstudion.
He believes that the relationship between the countries is not intact. And in Finland, the state leadership has tried to smooth over speculation that Finland would be ready to join NATO without Sweden, according to SVT’s Finland correspondent.
– It is clear that the relationship with Sweden comes first right now, otherwise Finland would perhaps already be in NATO.
Kristersson and Marin hold a joint press conference at 2:45 p.m. SVT Nyheter broadcasts live.
Hear Tomas Ries about why Finland will not join NATO before Sweden in the clip.