China News Service, January 30 (Xinhua) According to Reuters, on the 29th local time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey may agree to Finland joining NATO before Sweden as relations between Turkey and Sweden continue to be tense.
Data map: Flags of Sweden, NATO, Finland and Turkey.
Erdogan said, "We may send a different message to Finland, and Sweden will be shocked to see our message." He also emphasized, "Finland should not repeat the mistakes of Sweden."
Sweden and Finland will simultaneously submit applications to join NATO in May 2022.
According to the regulations, NATO must have the "unanimous consent" of the 30 member states before it can admit new members.
Sweden and Finland have not yet been formally ratified by Turkey and Hungary.
Recently, there have been constant frictions between Turkey and Sweden.
On the 21st, near the Turkish embassy in Sweden, a demonstration against Sweden's "accession to the Treaty" took place. During this period, a Swedish far-right figure publicly burned religious books, which triggered strong reactions from Turkey and the international community. Talks have also stalled.
Finland's foreign minister said on the 24th that if Sweden's application to join NATO is shelved, Finland may have to reconsider the simultaneous entry of Finland and Switzerland into NATO.