Finland Intends to Join NATO Together with Sweden

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that her country intends to join NATO at the same time as Sweden, despite Turkiye’s blocking of Sweden's accession.

"We sent a very clear signal to Turkey and also to Hungary, which has not ratified yet, that we want to join NATO together, and that is in everyone's interest," Marin said during the Munich Security Conference today, Saturday.

"At the same time, we want to join NATO with Sweden, not only because we are good neighbours and partners, but also because of very concrete issues, especially NATO's security planning throughout the north," she added.

In Early February, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the Turkish parliament might approve Finland's accession to NATO, without making a similar initiative towards Sweden, pointing out that the two countries submitted their requests for joining together, and Ankara is still obstructing them.

Turkiye accused Sweden of harbouring activists and sympathizers of the Kurds that it considers "terrorists", especially those affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The leaders of the 30 NATO member states called on Sweden and Finland to join the alliance at a summit held in Madrid in July 2022.

Thirty countries signed the accession protocols and 28 countries ratified them, with the exception of Turkiye and Hungary.