Finland wants to join NATO alongside Sweden: Finnish PM
Despite Turkey's objections to its neighbor's membership bid, Finland wants to join NATO with Sweden, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin says.
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Finnish PM Sanna Marin and the Swedish Prime Minister give a joint press conference in Stockholm on February 2, 2023. (AFP)
Despite Turkey's objections to its neighbor's membership bid, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Saturday that Finland still wants to join NATO with Sweden.
"We have sent a very clear signal and a very clear message to Turkey and also to Hungary... that we want to enter NATO together and this is in the interest of everyone," Marin said at the Munich Security Conference.
"We want to join together with Sweden at the same time. It's not only because we are good neighbors and partners, but it's also to do with very concrete matters -- the security planning of NATO," she said.
In response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of military non-alignment and applied to join the US-led defense alliance.
Having said that, both Turkey and Hungary remain the only members of the 30-nation alliance that have so far refused to ratify the two bids by parliamentary vote. All 30 states must approve a new country's membership.
Turkey has indicated that it is willing to accept Finland into the alliance, but not Sweden.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main gripe has been Sweden's refusal to extradite dozens of suspects linked to banned Kurdish groups.
During a visit to Turkey on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it was time to ratify Sweden and Finland's membership bids. "I continue to believe that the time is now to ratify both Finland and Sweden," Stoltenberg said.
However, earlier on February 7, high-level sources revealed that all Finnish parties, bar one, are prepared for their country to access NATO without Sweden. Although Helsinki had indicated to the outside world that Finland and Sweden continue to see NATO membership as a common cause, the reality of things may be quite different.
Finland was prepared to join NATO without Sweden if Turkey and Hungary ratify only Finland's NATO application, according to the country's media, citing several high-level sources. "We have to admit the facts: we are Russia's neighbor. Sweden's geopolitical position is completely different from ours," one of the sources was quoted as saying.
