Finland may be forced to consider joining NATO without its long-time ally Sweden, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Finnish broadcaster Yle on Tuesday.
Of course, with a view to the security of the two countries, moving forward together is still the absolute first option, according to Haavisto: However, one must be ready to reassess the situation if it turns out that the Swedish NATO application is stuck in the long term . However, Haavisto also emphasized to Reuters that he still sees no reason to promote Finland’s accession to NATO on his own without Sweden.
“Time out required”
In view of the ongoing impasse, Haavisto believes a pause in talks with Turkey on NATO accession for Sweden and his country is appropriate. “A time out is required before we return to the tripartite talks and see where we stand once the dust settles on the current situation. So no conclusions should be drawn just yet,” Finland’s chief diplomat told Reuters in a phone interview. “I think there will be a hiatus for a couple of weeks.”
As Haavisto further pointed out to Yle, Sweden is “very concerned about Turkey’s violent reaction to the events in Stockholm” – but he still believes in joint NATO accession. According to Yle, Haavisto’s “most optimistic” assessment would be to join before Turkey’s upcoming elections in May, but at the same time it is very uncertain. The “next time window” would then be between the Turkish elections and the upcoming NATO summit in July.
Erdogan’s No to Sweden’s NATO Accession
NATO member Turkey has been blocking the admission of Sweden and Finland for months. Above all, she accuses Sweden of supporting “terrorist organizations” such as the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and demands the extradition of a number of people whom Ankara regards as terrorists. All 30 NATO members must ratify applications for membership, 28 have already done so – only Turkey and Hungary are still missing.
In view of the burning of the Koran during an Islamophobic protest in Stockholm, Erdogan said on Monday evening that Sweden could not count on Turkey’s support for NATO membership. “If you don’t show respect to the Turkish Republic or the religious beliefs of Muslims, then you can’t get any support from us in the matter of NATO,” he said in Ankara. Erdogan described the protest action as a “disgrace”.
Stoltenberg rejects the threat
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Erdogan’s threat. He himself finds the burning of the Koran inappropriate as a form of protest, said Stoltenberg in the “Welt-Talk” of the TV station Welt. But this protest is not necessarily illegal in a democracy. The ratification of the accession protocols must not fail in the last few meters.
“I am in close contact with Finland and Sweden and of course also with our ally, Turkey.” 28 of 30 NATO countries have already agreed in their national parliaments. “And of course I also ask the remaining Allies – Hungary and Turkey – to speed up these procedures in their parliaments,” said Stoltenberg.
Provocation of a right-wing extremist
At the NATO summit in Madrid in June last year, Turkey gave the go-ahead for accession talks with Finland and Sweden. However, Erdogan quickly slowed down the process and justified the blockade with allegations that Sweden and Finland supported Kurdish groups that Turkey regards as terrorists. The two countries would support the PKK, the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG and the Gülen movement. Stockholm and Helsinki rejected this.
Several protest actions have recently exacerbated the tense relations between Sweden and Turkey. A protest action in the center of Stockholm, where activists had hung a doll resembling Erdogan by its feet, provided new fuel. As a result, Turkey canceled a visit by the Swedish Parliament President Andreas Norlen to Ankara.
On Saturday, the right-wing extremist and Islamophobic politician and provocateur Rasmus Paludan from Denmark poured new fuel on the fire. At a police-sanctioned rally near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, Paludan delivered an hour-long tirade against Islam and migrants, before lighting a copy of the Koran with a lighter.
Government distanced itself from actions
The Swedish government had distanced itself from Paludan’s action as well as from the incident with the Erdogan doll, but referred to the freedom of expression that applies in Sweden. “Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Twitter in response to the Koran burning. “But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. The burning of books that are sacred to many is a deeply disrespectful act.”
In the run-up to the protest, Turkey first summoned the Swedish ambassador to the Foreign Ministry – and subsequently canceled a visit to Turkey by Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson. According to Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Sweden has failed to deal with “disgusting” anti-Turkish protests on its soil. Jonson’s visit to Turkey has thus become meaningless, as Akar added, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Also summoned ambassador of the Netherlands
Meanwhile, an Islamophobic protest action in the Netherlands also caused diplomatic entanglements. The Turkish government summoned the NATO member country’s ambassador to the foreign ministry on Tuesday. She was reacting to an action by the Dutch PEGIDA boss Edwin Wagensveld, who is said to have publicly torn up a Koran in The Hague on Sunday.
Observers referred to the parliamentary and presidential elections that Erdogan last called for on May 14th. In the elections, the Turkish president with his conservative Islamic party, the AKP, may be facing the greatest challenge in his two decades at the helm of Turkey. In any case, surveys point to a close race.
