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USA emphasizes desire for Sweden and Finland to join NATO

2023-01-24T22:32:29.168Z


Sweden and Finland are striving to join NATO – actually together. Turkey is blocking this because of a dispute with Sweden. However, the US State Department does not want to hear anything about Finland joining alone.


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A US State Department spokesman has pledged support for Sweden and Finland to join NATO

Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP

The US government has confirmed its support for Sweden and Finland to join NATO in the near future.

As the Reuters news agency reports, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price dismissed repeated questions about Finland's possible accession without Sweden.

He will not comment on a question that he describes as "hypothetical" and not "current".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to block Sweden's accession to NATO because of the burning of the Koran in the Swedish capital Stockholm.

Price initially rejected Finland's sole accession.

"This has always been a discussion about Finland and Sweden, about moving from an alliance of 28 to an alliance of 30. That's what we want," Price said, adding that Finland's separate entry into NATO was an issue , "which we do not discuss".

The Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto had previously said that he would prioritize joint accession and had so far seen no reason to discuss Finland going it alone without Sweden.

Nevertheless, he showed a cautious rethinking for the first time.

Finland is considering joining alone

In view of a possible no by Turkey to Sweden joining NATO, Haavisto believes that Finland should consider joining the defense alliance without Stockholm.

Admittedly, joint accession by the two countries remains the "first option," he said on Finnish television.

However, his country must "assess whether something has happened that would prevent Sweden from progressing in the long term".

However, it was too early "to take a position," Haavisto said.

Turkey has been blocking NATO's northern expansion for months.

Their reservations are primarily aimed at Sweden and not at Finland.

The Turkish government accuses the government in Sweden of supporting terrorist organizations.

Specifically, it is about the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG.

Ankara sees her as an extension of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK.

In addition, Sweden is a haven for terrorists.

Turkey is demanding the extradition of dozens of PKK members, Kurdish activists and opposition figures from Sweden.

tfb/Reuters

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-01-24

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