By Essi Lehto
HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto urged patience on Friday and a step-by-step approach in response to Turkey’s resistance to the Finns and Sweden joining NATO.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had earlier said that NATO member Turkey does not support Finnish and Swedish plans to join the military alliance, raising a possible barrier because the entry of a new member requires unanimous support from all sides. 30 member states.
“We need patience in this kind of process. It won’t happen in a day… We’ll deal with the issues step by step,” Haavisto told reporters.
Erdogan’s statement appeared to come as a surprise to Finland, after Haavisto visited Turkey twice in recent months and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto spoke to Erdogan by phone in early April.
After the call, Niinisto tweeted: “Turkey supports Finland’s goals.”
Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin kicked off Finland’s NATO entry process on Thursday by announcing that they were both in favor of joining the alliance, a sharp policy shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
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