Finnish PM: No problems with accession to NATO following talks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Oct 2022 08:55
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The Finnish PM meets with the Turkish President and Hungarian PM before announcing that there are no problems with Helsinki's accession to NATO.

Finnish PM Sanna Marin

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin discussed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban issues pertaining to the accession of Finland to NATO and announced on Thursday that based on the discussions, there should not be any problem.

"I have spoken both with Prime Minister Orbán and also President Erdoğan about the situation and our knowledge is that there shouldn’t be any problems when it comes to Finland and our application," Marin said in an interview with Politico.

Marin further noted the significance of joining the alliance alongside Sweden as the two share "the same security environment up north," and voiced the importance that the applications of both countries be approved "as soon as possible."

"It would be very important that the ratification process would go smoothly, because there might be, of course, elements when it comes to the security environment," she said, adding that "there isn’t any military threat now facing Finland, and we have good capabilities when it comes to defending our country."

Earlier, on October 1st, Erdogan said that Turkey will continue to freeze Sweden and Finland's bids for NATO membership until the promises made by the two Nordic countries are "kept".

"Until the promises made to our country are kept, we will maintain our principled position," Erdogan said in a speech to parliament in Ankara.

What were the promises?

On June 28, the two Nordic countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding with Turkey in which they pledged to address Ankara’s concerns over their stance toward the PKK, YPG, and the Gulen movements.

In the memorandum, the two Nordic countries had agreed to lift their embargoes on weapons deliveries to Turkey, which were imposed in response to Ankara's 2019 military incursion into Syria.

Erdogan's office said in late June that Finland and Sweden agreed to abandon their embargo on Turkey's military-industrial complex, adding that the two countries agreed to amend their national legislation "in the field of counter-terrorism and the defense industry."

They also agreed to ban "fundraising and recruitment activities" for the Kurdish militants and "prevent terrorist propaganda against Turkey," Erdogan's office said, adding that both countries agreed to extradite those suspected of terrorism.