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Finland to visit Turkey amid earthquake-rebuilding efforts, NATO bid

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Mar 2023 17:19

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto agreed to visit Turkey following an invitation from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 13, 2015 (AP).

At the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is set to arrive in Turkey for a two-day visit on Thursday, the Turkish presidential office said on Wednesday.

The invitation arrived amid ongoing negotiations regarding Finland's possible accession to NATO.

"President Sauli Niinistö of Finland will pay a working visit to Türkiye on March 16-17, 2023 at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan," the office said in a statement.

The Finnish president, after having confirmed the visit, noted that there would be a stopover in the earthquake-devastated areas of Turkey upon his arrival.

"In addition to the reconstruction after the earthquake, the discussions will focus on the geopolitical situation, bilateral relations between Finland and Türkiye and Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO memberships," Niinisto's office said in a statement.

Finland could join NATO before Sweden

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson indicated Tuesday that the likelihood that Finland would join NATO before Sweden had "increased" as Stockholm's bid continues to face opposition from Ankara.

Kristersson told reporters that it had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Turkey was ready to ratify Finland's bid, but still had reservations about Sweden's, meaning it could ratify Finland's first.

"We have no confirmation that will be the case, but we think that the overall assessment after many conversations recently is that the likelihood of this has increased," the Swedish Prime Minister told a press conference.

Sweden and Finland have said they hope to be members by the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

The two countries dropped their decades-long policies of military non-alignment and applied to join the US-led military alliance last May in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members yet to ratify Sweden and Finland's bids, which must be accepted by all 30 existing members of the military alliance.