Erdoğan declares NATO support for Finland, abandoning Sweden frozen

Turkish President has signalled he might support Finland’s accession process to the Western defence alliance NATO, while withholding approval for the membership of the country’s Nordic neighbour Sweden.

“If necessary, we can send a different message regarding Finland,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech to young people, according to local media reports.

The Turkish president added: “Sweden will be shocked if we make a different statement regarding Finland.”

At the same time, he warned Finland against making the same “mistakes” as its neighbour.

After decades of neutrality, Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance in 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

However, the ratification requires unanimous approval, and member Turkey has so far refused to agree, initially citing security concerns.

Ever since, diplomatic efforts have been under way to address Ankara’s fears.

Last week, Erdoğan said that Sweden could not count on his country’s support for accession after a right-wing extremist politician burned a Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Ankara has also accused both of the prospective Nordic member countries of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, both of which Turkey classifies as terrorist groups.

NATO member state Hungary also still hasn’t approved the accession process for Sweden and Finland.