Turkey will “fulfill” its promise to Finland about its bid to join NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, giving the clearest signal yet that he’ll approve the Nordic country’s entry into the alliance after months of negotiations, according to Bloomberg.
“We will meet Finland’s president and do what our promise requires of us,” state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as telling reporters at parliament, ahead of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto’s visit to the country on Thursday.
Sweden and Finland both applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Turkey and Hungary are the only two NATO nations that haven’t ratified the bids, which require the approval of all 30 members. Hungary has delayed its ratification vote.
People familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg in February that Turkey was nearing a decision to allow Finland’s accession. Sweden’s entry could take longer since Erdogan has criticized its stance toward Kurdish militants, which Turkey sees as terrorists.
Erdogan’s tougher approach toward Sweden may help to garner support from conservative and nationalist voters as he faces elections in May. But he needs to balance that rhetoric with a need to get US congressional support for Turkey’s purchase of American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Relations between Sweden and Turkey cooled further after January demonstrations in Stockholm including the burning of a Koran. Sweden has since prevented at least two planned burnings of Islam’s holy book and the government has proposed a long-planned anti-terror law, which Turkey has now linked to its NATO ratification.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters on Tuesday that the likelihood had increased of Finland being admitted into NATO before Sweden.