NATO tops list unprepared for Erdogan's protest

Protest: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (in the background) expressed his dissatisfaction with Swedish-Finnish membership in NATO. Here he is, on his way to the NATO Summit in Brussels in March, with NATO President Jens Stoltenberg, French President Emmanuel Macron, and US President Joe Biden. Photo: Gisle Oddstad/VG

BERLIN (VG) The Turkish president’s opposition to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership came as an internal surprise in the defense alliance, according to sources VG spoke to.

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For months, diplomats and political leaders from 30 NATO member countries have been talking to each other about the possibility of introducing Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.

After a long process, Finland has I took one Historic decision. Swedish app can already come Monday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Do not look positively at:

We don’t want to make any mistakes. Scandinavian countries like guest houses for terrorist organizations, He said In a direct comment he appears to be referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is on Turkey’s terror list.

But in the months since the northern NATO countries debate, Turkey, a NATO member, has not reported any direct opposition to such expansion.

On the contrary, all countries have You have Concerned that the decision rests solely with the two potential new member states, VG was informed by several security sources.

– It was very surprising, says a central source for VG.

back cover

An internal process without anyone protesting may have led Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to repeatedly say that Finland and Sweden would be welcomed with open arms if they applied.

He said this on April 28 at the latest at the Youth Summit sponsored by the coalition:

The right of every nation to choose its own path is fundamental to NATO, so we respect Finland and Sweden regardless of their conclusion. If the conclusion is that they will implement, we will welcome them with open arms because we believe that it will enhance Euro-Atlantic security, in Stoltenberg.

Since all decisions in NATO presuppose consensus, Stoltenberg could not have said this without making sure that he had support in the NATO Council – that is, with ambassadors being sent and instructed by the governments of member states.

WELCOME: NATO President Jens Stoltenberg, here with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, has repeatedly said that NATO welcomes both Finland and Sweden to the alliance if they so wish. Photo: JUSSI NUKARI / AFP

The Swedish government also did not testify that any country had raised objections. da VG I asked Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson about this in Copenhagen on May 4, and she replied:

– I have not received any such indications yet.

can make demands

It is unclear how Turkey will act when the applications are available, possibly in the next week.

VG . owns Previously mentioned The formal process for accepting new member states can be reduced to just two weeks. When the process is over, the alliance will issue a document inviting them.

This document must be approved by power of attorney from all the governments of the 30 countries.

Security sources told VG that many are now wondering whether Turkey will really block the expansion – or what demands President Erdogan might bring to the table in exchange for approval.

VG was informed that Turkey had objections when Anders Fogh Rasmussen was appointed General Secretary in 2009. Then the countries finally agreed amicably – after Turkey’s request to appoint a Turkish Deputy Secretary General was approved.