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Published: 12:10, May 16, 2022
NATO expects Turkey not to hold up Finland, Sweden membership
By Reuters
Published:12:10, May 16, 2022 By Reuters

A picture taken on Nov 20, 2019 shows a NATO flag at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, during a NATO Foreign Affairs ministers' summit. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

BERLIN/STOCKHOLM - NATO and the United States said on Sunday they were confident Turkey would not hold up membership of Finland and Sweden in the Western military alliance, as the two Nordic states took firm steps to join in response to the conflict in Ukraine.

Turkey, which had surprised its allies in recent days by saying it had reservations about Finnish and Swedish membership, laid out its demands on Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin. Ankara said it wanted Sweden and Finland to halt support for Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and lift bans on some sales of arms to Turkey

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply to join NATO, while Sweden's ruling Social Democrats announced an official policy change that would pave the way for their country to apply within days.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said she will go to parliament on Monday to assure support for an application, which NATO allies expect to be made jointly with Finland.

"Today the Swedish Social Democratic Party took a historic decision to say yes to apply for a membership in the NATO defense alliance," tweeted Sweden's foreign minister, Ann Linde.

The country's defense minister, Peter Hultqvist, warned that Sweden would be in a perilous situation if it was the only country around the Baltic that remained outside NATO. "We would be left behind," he said.

ALSO READ: NATO chief offers quick admission for Finland, Sweden

Turkey, which had surprised its allies in recent days by saying it had reservations about Finnish and Swedish membership, laid out its demands on Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin. Ankara said it wanted the Nordic countries to halt support for Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and lift bans on some sales of arms to Turkey.

"I'm confident that we will be able to address the concerns that Turkey has expressed in a way that doesn't delay the membership," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to go into details of closed-door conversations in Berlin but echoed Stoltenberg's position.

"I'm very confident that we will reach consensus on that," Blinken told reporters, adding that NATO was "a place for dialogue".

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said talks with Swedish and Finnish counterparts in Berlin had been helpful. The two countries had made suggestions to respond to Ankara's concerns, which Turkey would consider, while he had provided them proof terrorists were present on their territory, he said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister of Turkey, attends the first session at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, Germany on May 15, 2022. The main topic of the informal consultations of the NATO foreign ministers is the conflict in Ukraine. (BERND VON JUTRCZENKA / POOL VIA AP)

Any decision on NATO enlargement requires approval by all 30 allies and their parliaments. Ankara, a NATO member for 70 years, will be under immense pressure to yield, NATO diplomats said, because the alliance considers that the accession of Finland and Sweden would hugely strengthen it in the Baltic Sea

He singled out Sweden in particular, saying the Kurdish militant group the PKK, banned as terrorists by the United States and EU, had held meetings in Stockholm over the weekend.

ALSO READ: Finnish govt submits security report preparing for NATO membership

Nevertheless, he said Turkey did not oppose the alliance's policy of being open to all European countries who wish to apply.

Any decision on NATO enlargement requires approval by all 30 allies and their parliaments. Ankara, a NATO member for 70 years, will be under immense pressure to yield, NATO diplomats said, because the alliance considers that the accession of Finland and Sweden would hugely strengthen it in the Baltic Sea.

'Calm and cool'

Sweden and Finland were both neutral throughout the Cold War, and their decision to join NATO would be one of the biggest changes to Europe's security architecture for decades, reflecting a sweeping shift in public opinion in the Nordic region since the conflict in Ukraine started in February.

The announcement of backing for membership from Sweden's Social Democrats paves the way for Prime Minister Andersson to launch a formal application within days.

Once vetted by NATO allies - and if Turkish objections are addressed - approval could come in just a matter of weeks, although ratification by allied parliaments could take up to a year, diplomats and officials have said.

Moscow has responded to the prospect of the Nordic states joining NATO by threatening retaliation, including unspecified "military-technical measures".

"We will strengthen our borders and strengthen the Russian grouping of troops on the border" if NATO weapons are deployed close to Russia in Finland, Viktor Bondarev, head of Russia's upper house of parliament's defense and security committee, wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.

Finland's Niinisto, who spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, said their conversation was measured.

READ MORE: Report: Finland, Sweden to begin NATO application in May

"Altogether, the discussion was very, could I say, calm and cool," Niinisto said in an interview with CNN's State of the Union program.

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