Finland intends to join NATO at the same time as Sweden, despite Turkey's blocking of the Swedish candidacy, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin warned on Saturday.
“
We have sent a very clear signal to Turkey and also to Hungary, which has not yet ratified, that we want to enter NATO together and it is in everyone's interest,”
said Sanna Marin at the Munich Security Conference.
"
We want to join NATO with Sweden, at the same time, it's not only because we are good neighbors and partners, it's also for very concrete questions, NATO security planning throughout the North
,” said the Finnish leader.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested in early February that the Turkish Parliament could ratify Finland's membership without that, jointly filed, of Sweden, which remains blocked by Ankara.
Turkey accuses Sweden, among other things, of harboring Kurdish militants and sympathizers whom it qualifies as “
terrorists
”, in particular those of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Read alsoSweden and Finland join NATO: Turkey maintains its veto
The leaders of NATO's 30 member countries took the decision to invite Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance at a summit in Madrid in July 2022. Thirty countries signed the accession protocols and 28 the have ratified.
Only Turkey and Hungary have not yet had their agreement ratified.