DECRYPTION – The Turkish leader has reaffirmed his determination to prevent the Nordic countries from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will not take place without the agreement of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the unanimity of the members of the Alliance being required. On Friday, after the prayer, the Turkish leader reaffirmed his determination to prevent the entry of Sweden and Finland into the Atlantic Alliance:“We can’t say yes”, he insisted. The Turkish president, however, announced that he will meet on the phone on Saturday with Finnish officials and with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg. “Neither Turkey nor its NATO partners want to see Ankara move away from the Alliance”, assures Didier Billion, deputy director of the Institute of international and strategic relations (Iris). But by threatening to veto the recent application for membership of the Atlantic Alliance of Helsinki and Stockholm, Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to dictate his conditions.
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Above all, he demands that Sweden, which he described on Thursday as “hotbed of terror” and of «Not…