The Finnish FM says Finland should think about joining NATO without Sweden.
Additionally, Haavisto charged that the demonstrators were “playing with the security of Finland and Sweden.” After Turkey signaled it will not support Sweden’s application following the burning of the Koran outside its Stockholm embassy, the Finnish Foreign Minister said Tuesday that Finland must think about joining NATO without Sweden.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto stated to broadcaster Yle, “We have to analyze the issue to see if something has happened that in the long run will prohibit Sweden from moving forward.”
A joint application was still the “preferred possibility,” he continued, but it was “too early to take a stance on that at this time.”
“In my opinion, there will be a delay (in receiving Turkish consent), and that delay will undoubtedly last until the Turkish elections in mid-May,” Haavisto continued.
A copy of the Muslim holy book was set on fire by Danish-Swedish far-right lawmaker Rasmus Paludan on Saturday in front of Turkey’s consulate in the Swedish capital.
In his first official statement to the incident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remarked on Monday, “Sweden should not expect support from us for NATO.”
The alliance, of which Turkey is a member, must ratify the Swedish and Finnish requests for membership.
While vehemently denouncing the Koran burning, Swedish politicians have defended their nation’s expansive concept of free speech.
Anti-Turkey demonstrations in Sweden, according to Haavisto, “obviously put a brake on the progress” of Finland and Sweden’s bids to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance.
The protests are obviously preventing Turkey from being willing or able to pass this legislation through parliament, he added, adding that this puts the country on a very perilous course.
The demonstrators were also charged with “playing with the security of Finland and Sweden,” according to Haavisto.
He claimed that “their acts are obviously meant to provoke Turkey.”
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland last year submitted applications to join NATO, reversing long-standing non-alignment principles.
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