Finnish officials have said they would join NATO without Sweden if Turkey only approves their membership, reversing their previous position that they would only join together with Stockholm.
The comments came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sweden wouldn’t receive support from Ankara over a Quran-burning protest that was held in front of the Turkish embassy in Turkey. Erdogan also said Turkey could approve Finland without Sweden.
Finnish Defense Minister Mikko Savola told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that Finland would prefer to join NATO with Sweden but wouldn’t delay its membership if Turkey only approves Helskinki’s membership.
“No, no. Then we will join,” Savola said when asked if Finland would delay its NATO membership to wait for Sweden. He added that Finland and Sweden cooperate closely, but the issue is in “Turkey’s hands now.”
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto made similar comments on Friday. “If Turkey approves Finland’s NATO application before Sweden’s, Finland cannot do anything about it,” he said.
The change in position came just two weeks after Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said her country wouldn’t join NATO without Sweden. Besides the issues over the Quran-burning protest, Turkey is also seeking far more extraditions from Sweden and has said Stockholm hasn’t done enough to fulfill a deal the two Nordic countries signed with Ankara last June.
If Helsinki joins NATO without Stockholm, it would still significantly raise tensions with Moscow as Finland shares an over 800-mile border with Russia, and the Russian military plans to boost its presence in western Russia in response.
It is almost set. A few more details to take care of . Then…WWIII.
Finland moving to the head of the class to be wiped out once WW3 fully kicks in.
Another “is the end of the world'” comment here.
Pfff
Other than the US Finland has the most artillery in Europe. It is a big add. The Russians should be working hard to organize a Koran burning in Finland.
Sweden :
“I don’t get no respect!”
Tough tomatoes, Sweden. When are you fools gonna realize that NATO membership is NOT a good thing?
Any country that joins NATO basically gives up their sovereignty to the US hegemon.
They might regret it when the US bases are foisted on them and the rapes / murders begin by US soldiers like in Japan , and the culprits are sent back States side so they don`t get prosecuted by the Japanese justice system .
What are these silly things called borders? The Empire (NATO) is constantly on the make, expanding without limit, grasping at whatever they can get their hands on. Unfortunately for them, they have finally come up against a nation that has nukes, lots of them, unlike the benighted Afghanis and Iraqis. This will not end well for the Empire.
How much will it cost the taxpayer for the country to join NATO?
Do the citizens have a vote?
I would question the conclusion that Finland’s joining NATO would increase tensions with Russia, as the Russians have made clear that NATO per se is not an issue with respect to Finland.
Ok Mr. TASS / RT news. That’s was after Russia, back in May 2022 threatened retaliatory steps if Finland would join NATO.
Don’t you read much and are the history expert?
Well, I don’t read fantasy, unless the author is interesting. Don’t recall an account of the Russian government issuing any threats against the Finns (though I did see a quote from Putin that neither Finland nor Sweden would bother the Russians all that much, although he did say this before the two countries started pouring weapons into Ukraine and hosting NATO belligerency days), unless of course, the story came from the side you read, which also loves to publish articles detailing how Russia plans on taking all of Ukraine, and plans to invade Europe and reestablish the empire, etc etc. You know, the crap you apparently rely on.
The problem is the sheep feeding on Western Propaganda rather than actually finding out for themselves who started this war , but then again finding out who started this war would DESTROY their NARRATIVE .
Euros are slaves to America. No backbone whatsoever. They just follow the master and carry out orders of the great satan.
We are fifty states who all more or less claim to be Americans and they are 28 nations which remain nations in spite of the EU.
They maybe 28 nations but that`s debatable , the fact is any member of NATO takes the knee to their US masters , many is the time the US has had to strong arm NATO members to toe the line , most EU countries don`t agree with the war in Ukraine started by the US / UK but dare not say so for fear of being brow beaten by the US.
100 % right
Not sure how does their thinking process works.
Russia has been warning and complaining for over 20 years about NATO’s expansion. For most of those 20 years,NATO kept not only expanding in Eastern Europe but also attacking several small countries, coincidentally mostly Russian clients.
Ukraine crossed the line when they cooperated in the coup of 2014 and went one step further when they were arming themselves and were preparing to attack the Donbass. Result? Russia reacted.
The illuminatti in Washington keep insisting that the attack on Ukraine was not the result of NATO’s expansion but it was Putin who just got up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to do the Ukraine thingy to restore the USSR empire.
Sweden and Finland seem to believe Washington otherwise, if they accepted the NATO angle, they would not join NATO. What exactly do these 2 countries really expect to achieve by joining NATO?
If the past year shows anything it is that NATO’s expansion is de-stabilizing and therefore more de-stabilization should be expected.
Washington is just rubbing its hands because when the war starts, there is a big North Atlantic to put it far away from the action and the first to burn will be Russia’s neighbors.
Russia does not have the conventional weaponry to fight NATO so the only thing left is nuclear weapons and I dont believe they have nuclear weapons to be used for paperweight. They have just reninded the empty headed warmongers that they have a good supply of them. The warmonger whined that Russia was threatening them.
If these 2 join, there will be more instability. I hope that Turkey does not sign.
Turkey is only in NATO because back in the day the US wanted to station Nuke on Turkeys borders with Russia , hence the Cuban missile crisis saw the Russians achieve their goal of getting the Nukes out of Turkey , JFK claimed victory but he wasn`t the victor Nikkita Khrushchev was , JFK asked him not to say anything as the folks back home would not like it .
If they think NATO is the saviour they can think again , joining NATO just puts a big red target on their backs , some where in Russia a ICBM will have finlands name on it .