Finland and Sweden have officially submitted applications to join NATO, but Turkey, which has repeatedly expressed opposition, has stepped on the brakes.
According to the British "Guardian" reported on the 18th, a number of reports quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Turkey later blocked the vote of the ambassadors to NATO on the immediate start of negotiations, which shows that the first stage of the process of joining NATO between the two countries may take longer than the original plan of two weeks.
Turkey asks them to crack down on "terrorist activities" such as the PKK in places like Stockholm, Sweden, and hopes that NATO will respect its concerns.
Screenshot of the Guardian report
On the same day, at the ceremony held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden to NATO submitted the application of the two countries to join NATO to NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg welcomed Finland and Sweden's request to join NATO, saying that "Finland and Sweden are NATO's closest partners" and praising it as a "historic step."
"NATO will take into account the security interests of all member states, will resolve these issues and reach a quick conclusion," Stoltenberg said, adding that all members agree with NATO's open door and all allies agree with Sweden and Finland joining, adding: "We must stand together and seize this historic moment."
Ambassadors of Finland and Sweden to NATO submit an application for "accession" to nato secretary-general (Photo from Reuters)
According to previous reports, NATO will convene a meeting of NATO member states after the application letter is submitted, and it may be decided to start the admission process for the two countries. If all goes according to plan, the application agreement between Sweden and Finland can be signed in about two weeks, after which the two countries will be granted the status of "invited country". This status gives both countries the right to participate in all NATO meetings in the future, but without the right to vote.
However, Turkey has reportedly blocked the opening of negotiations for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Turkey accused Sweden and Finland of harboring members of kurdish militant groups it considered terrorist groups and opposed the two countries' decision in 2019 to ban arms exports to Ankara over Turkey's military operations in Syria.
"We asked them to extradite 30 terrorists, but they refused," added Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a security entity, a security organization. Turkey cannot say 'agree' to this security organization that has been deprived of security guarantees".
Erdogan stressed that NATO has never supported Turkey in its fight against the PKK and other Kurdish militant groups, accusing member states of supporting terrorists.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan video screenshot
However, NATO is optimistic about Turkey's strong reaction. Some analysts believe that Erdogan, who will face elections next year, is largely seeking concessions to add points to domestic politics and is unlikely to veto Sweden and Finland's applications in the end.
Public information shows that if a country wants to join NATO, it must be unanimously approved by all 30 member states. Turkey, as a member of NATO, enjoys a substantial "one-vote veto" on this matter.
In contrast to Erdogan, his spokesman and other Turkish officials have been more moderate, saying that Turkey has not closed the door to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, but wants to negotiate with Nordic countries and commit to what they consider "terrorist activities."
On the 18th, three senior Turkish officials revealed to Bloomberg that Turkey has issued a "list of requirements" for agreeing to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, first of all, requiring the two countries to publicly condemn the "Kurdistan Workers' Party" and its branches; ending the arms export restrictions imposed on Turkey by the two countries and other EU member states, and allowing Turkey to rejoin the US F-35 fighter program.
Turkish officials say the country will not bargain on other issues except for the PKK issue, but Turkey has "deep dissatisfaction" with NATO, so its "list of demands" will also be long. Turkish Foreign Minister Cavushoglu confirmed on the 16th that the country hopes that Sweden and Finland will lift trade restrictions on Turkey.
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