• Atlantic Alliance Erdogan tells Sweden "not to wait" for Turkish support to join NATO

  • Europe The burning of a Koran in Sweden reignites tensions with Turkey

If Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

, outraged by the burning of a Koran outside his country's Embassy in Stockholm and under pressure from next spring's presidential and legislative elections, follows through on his threat to veto Sweden's NATO membership ,

Finland does not rule out entering the Atlantic Alliance without the company of its western neighbor

, a requirement for the latter that until now it considered non-negotiable.

Finland had always conditioned its accession to NATO to be carried out at the same time as Sweden's, but Erdogan's anger

is now forcing him to consider a solo entry

, as his foreign minister, the green Pekka, has admitted. Haavisto, to the Yle television channel.

"Of course, we will assess the situation if it turns out that Sweden's application process is stalled for a long time," Haavisto said.

"However, it is still too early to take a position on how we should proceed on this whole matter," he added.

"The best thing would be that we continue to discuss together, with Sweden and Turkey, the entry into the Alliance, but right now

a pause of a few weeks in the negotiations is necessary

until the situation is clarified."

Haavisto's announcement follows Turkey's strong reaction to the burning of a Koran by Danish-Swedish far-right Rasmus Paludan outside the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital.

Erdogan has warned that

Turkey will not support the admission of Sweden as a new member of NATO

, a decision that, for the moment, completely blocks Swedish accession, since the entry of new countries requires the approval of all member states.

"Those who have allowed such ignominy in front of our Embassy can no longer wait for our willingness to join the Alliance," Erdogan said Monday afternoon.

"The Swedish government must show respect to the Republic of Turkey and to the faith of the Muslims. If they don't, they won't have our support."

The latest performance by Paludan, an openly racist agitator who has specialized in burning Korans in public -always under police protection- and who has run unsuccessfully in both the 2022 Swedish and 2019 Danish elections, seems to have filled the patience of the Turkish leader.

Erdogan

had previously expressed his discontent over Sweden's refusal to extradite Kurdish refugees

that Ankara considers "terrorists", as well as the appearance on a bridge in the Swedish capital earlier this month of a doll dangling by its feet. that represented his person.

With less than four months to go before the presidential and legislative elections on May 14, the Turkish president wants to make the most of the tension with Sweden to strengthen his image as a pious father of the country who watches over the interests of the nation and Islam, thus diverting attention from the political and economic problems that Turkey is currently going through.

Even so, Haavisto, the Finnish foreign minister, has not hidden his irritation at the problems that the Koran and doll episodes are causing:

"These protesters are playing with the security of Finland and Sweden

. "

The desire of the Government for him, and for the leadership of NATO, continues to be an income at the same rate, both as regards the planning of the common defense of northern Europe and, above all, the security of the catering.

Sweden's geographical position

would make it a key member of the Alliance

.

Through its territory, troops, equipment and supplies can be transported to protect, for example, the Baltic countries from possible Russian aggression.

For this reason, according to the Swedish public channel SVT, the NATO Secretary General, the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, would not have liked Haavisto's words at all.

However, as many Nordic political analysts point out, Finnish patience cannot be infinite, and this is the debate that the Finnish minister is now opening.

A solo accession would not necessarily be a lack of solidarity with Sweden, but rather an attempt to find the most pragmatic solution in case the Turkish refusal persists in six or nine months.

Although Haavisto's statements are vague,

this is the first time that a high-level politician has strayed from the line that Sweden and Finland go hand in hand

, as SVT Helsinki correspondent Liselott Lindström points out: "They represent a significant shift and introduce a new tone regarding NATO membership. They further reflect the fact that Sweden and Finland applied for fundamentally different reasons. For Finland it is an existential question, while for Sweden it is more ideological".

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Sweden

  • NATO

  • Finland

  • Turkey

  • Europe

  • Islam

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan