Finland and Sweden
Erdogan is critical of NATO expansion
05/13/2022 2:53 p.m
At the moment it looks like Finland and Sweden will apply to join NATO. However, there is now a critical voice from the alliance: Turkish President Erdogan has “no positive opinion” about it. He gives the reason for dealing with PKK members.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the possibility of Sweden and Finland joining NATO. Erdogan said in Istanbul that he had no “positive opinion” about the two countries joining the military alliance. He justified his stance by saying that Scandinavian countries behaved “like a guest house for terrorist organizations”. Erdogan accuses Scandinavian states, among other things, of offering shelter to members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey, and the left-wing extremist group DHKP-C.
The admission of new members must be approved unanimously by NATO member states. Turkey would thus have the opportunity to block the admission of Sweden and Finland. So far, however, it is unclear whether this could actually happen or whether Erdogan simply wants to increase the pressure on the Scandinavian countries.
NATO member Turkey has good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. So far, the country has been ambivalent about the Ukraine war: the country supplied Ukraine with combat drones – but unlike its western allies, it has not imposed any sanctions on Russia. Turkey has also repeatedly offered to mediate in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
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Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has set the two Scandinavian countries in motion to join NATO. However, both are already close cooperation partners. On Thursday, the Finnish head of state spoke out in favor of an “immediate” application to the western defense alliance. In neighboring Sweden, the ruling Social Democrats want to announce their decision to join NATO on Sunday.
A security analysis released today stresses that the security of Sweden and all of northern Europe will be enhanced by the country’s accession to NATO. The report, which was drawn up by all parties represented in Parliament, does not contain any explicit recommendation as to how the country should decide with regard to NATO. But it states that it is “unrealistic to develop bilateral defense alliances outside of the existing European and Euro-Atlantic structures.”
On Thursday, Russia warned against the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO. This would not “make the world and our continent any more stable and secure,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.