Turkey’s insistence on maintaining tensions with Greece disorients NATO.
NATO
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he expected Turkey’s NATO allies to understand its sensitivities on security, having surprised the allies last week by saying he would not view Sweden and Finland’s applications to join the bloc positively.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that Finland, Sweden have officially applied to join the world’s biggest military alliance, a move driven by security concerns over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan taking an increasingly tough line against the NATO membership bids of Finland and Sweden despite far less strident statements from some of his top aides, US officials are trying to determine how serious the often mercurial leader is and what it might take to get him to back down.
Finland and Sweden voiced optimism on Tuesday that common ground can be found with Turkey over its objections to them joining NATO amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at smoothing their path into the 30-nation alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thrown a spanner in the works of Sweden and Finland’s historic decisions to seek NATO membership, declaring that he cannot allow them to join due to their alleged support of Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara says threaten its national security.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Finland and Sweden joining NATO would probably make “not much difference” as the two countries had long participated in the alliance’s military drills.
Sweden on Tuesday signed a formal request to join NATO, a day after the country announced it would seek membership in the 30-member military alliance.
Luxembourg’s foreign minister says he doesn’t believe Turkey will prevent Sweden and Finland from joining NATO, despite the Turkish president’s stated objections.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Swedish and Finnish delegations should not bother coming to Ankara to convince it to approve their NATO bid, calling Sweden a “hatchery” for terrorist organizations.
Sweden will start diplomatic discussions with Turkey to try to overcome Ankara’s objections to its plan to join NATO, Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said, with a formal decision to apply for membership of the 30-nation alliance expected on Monday.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared confident Sunday that no member-state will block Finland and Sweden from joining the North Atlantic Alliance, despite objections voiced by Turkey.
Greece is “ready to welcome Sweden and Finland in the NATO family,” Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said in Berlin Saturday.
Ahead of the visit on Monday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the White House, Athens is taking stock of the statements on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who cited Greece to express Ankara’s disagreement over the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
The United States is working to clarify Turkey’s position on Sweden and Finland’s potential membership of NATO, the top US diplomat for Europe at the State Department said on Friday after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara is not supportive of the two countries’ bid to join the alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that his country is “not favorable” toward Finland and Sweden joining NATO, indicating that Turkey could use its status as a member of the Western military alliance to veto moves to admit the two countries.
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