The Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, traveled this Thursday to the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, where she met with her Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, and took the opportunity to emphasize her intention to join the Atlantic Alliance jointly with her neighboring country.
«I think it is important that we send a common message. Finland and Sweden applied together and it is in everyone’s interest that we join NATO together,» Prime Minister Marin told the media, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Both prime ministers agreed on the need for the enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance to include both countries, as the presence of Stockholm and Helsinki would be «beneficial for NATO as a whole».
In fact, Marin has urged Turkey and Hungary to speed up the parliamentary votes for the accession of both Nordic nations to NATO and to ratify the enlargement of the Atlantic bloc, according to Finnish broadcaster YLE.
Sweden and Finland presented in May last year their joint candidacy to join the Atlantic Alliance, an enlargement of the bloc that has so far been vetoed by Turkey – which has demanded a series of security guarantees – and Hungary.
Although both Nordic nations have stressed compliance with Ankara’s demands, the recent burning of copies of the Koran and demonstrations against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Stockholm have infuriated the Ottomans, who have assured that they will continue to block NATO enlargement.
It is true that Turkey’s complaints concern Sweden, which is why in the last few days there have been many voices pointing to the possibility that Finland might let go of its neighbor’s hand and move alone towards NATO membership.
In fact, according to a poll published Thursday, the majority of Finnish citizens — 53 percent of those surveyed — are in favor of breaking the alliance with Sweden and going it alone on the road to NATO membership.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
