19.03.2023 12:33
(Akt. 19.03.2023 12:33)
Niinistö did not want to prevent ratification by Turkey
©APA/AFP
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö has defended the prospect of Finland joining NATO without Sweden. “Should we have refused Turkey’s ratification? That sounds a bit crazy,” said Niinistö after Turkey’s announcement on Friday that it initially only wanted to ratify Finland’s accession, but not Sweden’s. “It would have been a very difficult situation if we had said no to Ankara,” said Niinistö.
He has always emphasized that one goes “hand in hand” with Sweden, as far as it is in the hands of the Nordic countries, said the Finnish President. “But the ratification of Finland’s NATO membership is in the hands of Turkey and Hungary.”
Against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden jointly applied for membership in the western defense alliance last spring. All NATO members must agree to join.
However, Turkey has so far blocked Sweden’s accession. Ankara is demanding the extradition of 120 people who Turkey considers “terrorists” to be extradited. Hungary’s approval of Sweden’s application is still pending. The Hungarian parliament, on the other hand, intends to ratify Finland’s accession on March 27th.
In his assessment, Finland’s earlier NATO accession would not worsen the security situation in Sweden, said Niinistö in the interview, which was to be broadcast in full on SVT on Sunday evening. He doesn’t hope that it will be long before Sweden succeeds Finland in NATO.