Why is Erdogan standing in the way of Sweden and Finland’s NATO bid?

Turkey surprised its NATO allies last week by saying it would not view the applications of Sweden and Finland positively, and on Monday Turkish President Erdogan doubled down on comments last week indicating that the two Nordic countries’ path to NATO would be anything but smooth. 

Erdogan also cited Greece to express his disagreement over Finland and Sweden joining the transatlantic alliance. 

Expert Alan Makovsky joins Thanos Davelis to break down what the key issues are, look at what Erdogan hopes to gain with this policy, and break down what this means for US-Turkish relations. 

Alan Makovsky is a senior fellow for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, and has worked on Turkey and the region in several capacities, including as a senior staff member on the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives and at the State Department.