NATO | Haavisto: NATO discusses open door policy as a result of Turkey’s comments, Finland unable to follow the debate

Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) on Thursday called for a calm attitude towards Turkey’s negative stance on Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan On Thursday, he reiterated his opposition to Finland’s and Sweden’s membership of NATO. According to him, Finland and Sweden are “hosting” terrorists by supporting the Kurdish organization PKK and its Syrian branch YPG.

“There’s a lot of diplomacy on the move now. Now we just have to proceed calmly, both within NATO, within NATO member states and between Turkey and the Nordic countries, ”Haavisto told STT in Parliament.

The ratification of all members is required for the admission of new NATO members, so Turkey will be able to block new members from joining NATO if it so wishes. Finland and Sweden submitted their membership applications to NATO on Wednesday.

First and foremost, Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO applications must be approved by NATO as an organization. Turkey blocked progress on Wednesday at a meeting of the NATO Council of Ambassadors.

Haavisto said that officials are currently in active contact with Turkey.

“We have expressed with Sweden that we are ready to continue discussions when appropriate. They can happen either from NATO, or we are, of course, ready to travel to Ankara. Whatever is possible. But let’s see. The next few days and weeks will probably show what is needed, ”Haavisto said.

“When we visited the Secretary of State [Mevlüt] Çavuşoğlun with a discussion with the Berlin meeting last Saturday, there were a few issues for Finland and Sweden that Turkey asked for further clarification. Work is now being done on these, ”Haavisto said.

Haavisto considers that Turkey’s negative attitude towards Finland’s and Sweden’s membership of NATO has sparked a debate in NATO about its open door policy.

“It’s the kind of conversation we’re not involved in and can’t follow,” he said.

“Surely there are many member states for whom it is important that the signal for enlargement could be given at the Madrid Summit at the latest. The member states will definitely work for it, ”Haavisto continued, referring to the summit of the military alliance at the end of June.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the military alliance is addressing Turkey’s concerns. The Secretary General says that he believes that a quick solution to Finland’s and Sweden’s membership dreams will be found despite Turkey’s opposition.

“When an important ally like Turkey raises security concerns, of course, the only way to address them is to sit down and look for ways to find consensus and find an agreement on how to move forward,” the secretary-general said at a news conference in Copenhagen.

Stoltenberg said NATO had close ties with Sweden, Finland and Turkey, as well as other allies. However, he did not go into the details of these discussions.

According to Stoltenberg, disagreements between alliance members are by no means unusual when big decisions are ahead. However, he recalled that NATO has a good history of resolving mutual disputes.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to agree on this as well,” he said.

Turkey Sabah, which is close to the administration and adheres strictly to the official line, listed Turkey’s requirements for Finland and Sweden earlier this week. In addition to the PKK and the YPG, the list also mentions a Turkish preacher living in the United States. Fethullah Gülenin led by a movement that Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

Foreign Minister Haavisto did not give much weight to Sabah’s ten-point list.

“There’s a lot of public twist going on about this right now. Some of the stuff in the press is certainly openings for domestic policy purposes. You can’t start commenting on every newspaper story, otherwise the ball will drown in this matter, ”Haavisto said.

“When we had a discussion with Minister Çavuşoğlu last Saturday in connection with the Berlin meeting, there were a few issues for Finland and Sweden that Turkey asked for to be clarified in the future. Work is now being done on these, ”Haavisto said.