Turkey may ratify Finland’s bid to join the Nato military alliance by March at the latest, according to a report (siirryt toiseen palveluun) by the Bloomberg news agency.
Citing anonymous sources, the agency added that while Finland may have done enough to resolve Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s security concerns, Sweden has not, and Ankara is not yet ready to ratify the Swedish application.
Bloomberg’s sources said that Turkey could be prepared to give Finland’s bid the green light before the Turkish parliament goes into pre-election recess in mid-March, instead of after the parliamentary and presidential ballots in May, as has previously been expected.
Turkey has been slow to approve the bids by both Nordic nations since they were submitted last year, but Turkish-Swedish relations have deteriorated even further in recent weeks following the hanging of an Erdogan effigy in front of Stockholm city hall as well as the burning of a Koran.
Throughout the accession process, Finland and Sweden have expressed their preference to join Nato at the same time.
This aim was further emphasised by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) during a visit to Stockholm on Thursday to meet her Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson.
“We clearly both tick all the boxes for Nato membership,” Marin said. “Sweden is not a troublemaker, but is our trusted neighbour.”
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