Monitoring Desk
HELSINKI: For the first time, Finland on Tuesday said that it had to consider joining NATO. without Sweden, whose bid appeared to come to a halt after a recent row with Turkey.
“We have to analyze the situation, whether something has happened that in the longer period would prevent Sweden from moving forward,” Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s Foreign Minister told broadcaster Yle.
The foreign minister added that it was very early to take a position on that at the movement and that a joint NATO application remained the primary option.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told reporters on Tuesday that he was coordinating with Finland to ascertain what this really means.
Turkey-Sweden relations
The Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the holy Qur’an on Saturday in front of Turkey’s embassy in the capital of Sweden, angering Turkey and Muslim countries across the world.
“Sweden should not expect support from Ankara for joining NATO,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said in his first official response to the incident.
Erdogan said that it is clear that those who caused such a disgrace in front of Turkey’s embassy should no longer expect any benevolence from Ankara regarding their application for joining NATO,” Erdogan said.
Leaders of Sweden have roundly condemned the holy Qur’an burning but defended their country’s broad definition of the right to free speech and freedom of expression.
