On May 27, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg publicly stated that if Finland and Sweden want to join NATO and become candidates, they must respond positively to Turkey's request. To make it easier for the outside world to understand, Stoltenberg made it clear that Finland and Sweden could not join NATO if Turkey did not agree. For example, due to Greece's disagreement, North Macedonia joined NATO for more than a decade, and finally under the mediation of NATO, Greece and North Macedonia reached a consensus, and North Macedonia finally became a member of NATO. Now, with this example, Stoltenberg has informed Finland and Sweden that they should accede to Turkey's request as soon as possible or they will not be able to join NATO.
As the secretary general of NATO, Stoltenberg's sudden reversal of face on finland and Sweden's accession to NATO must be affected by a variety of factors.
First, Turkey's opposition is indeed extremely powerful, Turkey has the strength, and if NATO does not accede to the relevant demands, the consequences will be unimaginable. Under the trade-off, Stoltenberg had to choose to side with Turkey, which is too strategically important as a NATO member across Europe and Asia compared to Finland and Sweden. In terms of military power, Turkey is the second largest NATO member besides the United States; from the perspective of strategic position, Turkey spans Europe and Asia, not only controls the Black Sea, but also radiates its influence in the Mediterranean region and eastwards in the Middle East. This strategic position of communicating East and West also forced Stoltenberg to swallow his anger and accede to Turkey's demands when Turkey explicitly opposed Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, and sided with Turkey.
Second, relations between NATO and Russia have become increasingly strained because of finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, and the change in Stoltenberg's tone is also trying to cool down. If Finland and Sweden abandon their neutrality policy and join NATO as NATO candidates, it will mean a direct head-on collision between NATO and Russia, and the risk of frontal confrontation between the two sides will increase dramatically. NATO currently has 30 member states, with only Latvia, a small baltic state with direct borders on Russia, and The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland.
Even if NATO continues to clamor for eastward expansion, as long as there is no direct frontal military confrontation with Russia, the two sides will at most just shout in the air. Because of this, the three Baltic countries have repeatedly requested the United States and NATO to permanently station troops in their own countries, but NATO has been slow to act. Once NATO deploys offensive weapons directly in Latvia, Russia will certainly strengthen its nuclear deterrent in Kaliningrad, so NATO, although very tough in rhetoric, has been very cautious in its actions.
This time, Russia has adopted a pre-emptive strategy on the Ukraine issue, mainly because once Ukraine joins NATO, Russia's southern frontier will face a huge security threat, and Russia will even launch special military operations in Ukraine to maintain its own security. If Finland and Sweden join NATO, it would mean that Russia's northern frontier and even the entire northern Europe would be in serious military danger. The border between Finland and Russia is more than 1,000 kilometers long, and NATO had to weigh it up after Russia expressed strong protest and serious concern. Now that Turkey has accused Finland and Sweden of supporting the PKK and rejecting Finland and Sweden from joining NATO on this ground, Stoltenberg is just a donkey downhill to find a way for himself.
Third, from the perspective of maintaining unity within NATO, Stoltenberg had to make this decision against his will, NATO pursues the principle of unanimous consent, and if Turkey insists on opposing it, NATO will not be able to accept new members. Earlier, at the Davos Forum, German Economy Minister Habeck publicly accused Hungary and Turkey of not paying any attention to the overall interests of the European Union and NATO, and said that decisive measures must be taken to remove these two scourges. As we all know, German politicians are just complaining, and if it is really put into practice, hungary will be removed from the EU and Turkey will be driven out of NATO, which will inevitably lead to the collapse of the EU and NATO. In order to maintain the principle of unity within NATO and the unity of NATO itself, Stoltenberg had to warn Finland and Sweden that negotiations with Turkey should be held as soon as possible, and after meeting Turkey's demands, NATO can open a door for Finland and Sweden.