“We have sent a clear message to Turkey and Hungary that we want to join NATO together with Sweden,” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a speech at a security conference in Munich, Turkish Sabah newspaper quoted Rador as saying.

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who attended the 56th Security Conference held in Munich, Germany, made a number of statements regarding his country’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO.

Stating that Finland and Sweden remain committed to joining NATO at the same time, despite Turkey’s opposition to Sweden’s candidacy, Marin said:

• “We sent a signal and a clear message to Turkey and Hungary that we want to join NATO together with Sweden. This is a topic that interests everyone. We want to join NATO at the same time as Sweden. Not only because we are neighbors and good partners, but also because of specific situations, such as the NATO security plan.”

Why Turkey is blocking the accession of two northern countries to NATO

After decades of neutrality, the two Scandinavian countries officially applied to join NATO last May, less than 3 months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. In July, Finland and Sweden signed protocols on joining NATO, which must be ratified by all member states.

So far, only Hungary and Turkey have not done so, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has assured that the parliament in Budapest will give the green light to the two countries.

Turkey, on the other hand, rejected the entry of the northern European countries into the alliance, in particular asking Sweden to extradite people linked to Kurdish militants or the network of cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara classifies as “terrorists”.

But in late January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara could ratify Finland’s entry if it was analyzed separately, but sharply rejected Sweden’s NATO membership after a protest in Stockholm in which he was burned a copy of the Koran.

In particular, the tension between Sweden and Turkey escalated after the provocative gesture of far-right politician Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party, who burned a copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. And after this incident, Erdogan said that Turkey can approve Finland’s accession to NATO before Sweden.

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• The burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was financed by a journalist with ties to the Kremlin
• Turkey warns its citizens about religious intolerance in the EU and racism in the US
• Finland and Sweden confirm again that they want to join NATO together