Bargaining for a pass to NATO: Sweden and Finland responded to Erdogan

Sweden and Finland did not expect that any of the NATO member countries would be against their joining this form of collective security. Therefore, they expressed surprise at such a position of Turkey.

This was stated by Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, reports the local agency SVT.

What happened

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country cannot positively assess the plans of Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance, because representatives of Kurdish formations, which are considered terrorist in Turkey, find refuge in these countries. This is primarily about the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“Now we are following the developments in relation to Sweden and Finland, but we do not see a positive. Sweden has become home to the PKK and other terrorist groups“, Erdogan told reporters.

Answer

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in her comment that a few days ago, Turkish representatives did not speak out against it.

“I met with my Turkish counterpart the day before and we also discussed Sweden’s possible bid for NATO membership a few weeks ago at a bilateral meeting. We have a good and constructive relationship, and they didn’t tell us anything like that. Neither the NATO ambassadors nor any of the 30 countries presented anything of the sort. I hope that we can discuss everything, and if we decide to apply for NATO membership, we will receive positive notifications from all countries“, Linda said.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto also said that his Turkish counterpart had previously spoken positively about the membership of the two Scandinavian countries in NATO.

“These things are always connected with politics. Most problems can always be solved“, – Haavisto has a positive attitude.

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