All members want Finland and Sweden to join NATO quickly – with the exception of Turkey. Without their consent, however, the Scandinavians must remain outside. Can President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still be persuaded? And at what price?
The door to NATO could hardly be wider than for Finland and Sweden. The two Scandinavian countries are “welcome,” said General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, and Germany, for example, has already said yes to membership as soon as possible. The military alliance could soon grow, the member states thought until a few days ago. But then Turkey’s head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said in no uncertain terms that he didn’t think it was a good idea for the two countries to join. But now all NATO states have to agree to the membership applications of the candidate countries, otherwise they unfortunately have to stay outside. Is Ankara now slowing down Sweden’s and Finland’s plans?
Is it all just a matter of price?
Probably not definitive, but at least the Turks could slow down the accession process. And there is still little clarity about Erdogan’s motivation for saying no, but it is likely that the Turkish president wants something in return for his approval.
Officially, he justifies his refusal by pointing out that the Scandinavians are “guesthouses for terrorist organizations”. In the past, Erdogan had repeatedly accused Sweden and other European countries of not taking decisive action against the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria. Ankara also criticizes the fact that several countries have restricted the delivery of armaments to Turkey because of Turkey’s fight against these groups.
According to diplomats, in addition to declarations by the two northern countries on the fight against terrorism, concessions by the USA could also play a role. The government in Ankara wants to buy F-16 fighter jets from the Americans and is hoping for an end to the dispute over the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
Russian weapon systems in NATO
Turkey ordered the S-400 system in 2017 despite vehement protests from the US and NATO. The US then excluded Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program after delivery and imposed sanctions. From Washington’s point of view, the use of the system would endanger the security of US soldiers and American military technology.
It is not yet clear whether there are also concrete demands on Germany. The previous federal government partially stopped arms exports to Turkey after Turkey invaded northern Syria in October 2019.
At the weekend, representatives of Sweden met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to settle the conflict. But there were no results, now the diplomats should continue the negotiations. However, there were also conciliatory tones from Ankara:
Ibrahim Kalin, the Turkish president’s chief foreign policy adviser, said in an interview with the Reuters news agency that while the door would not be closed to Sweden and Finland, the question of how to deal with the PKK was a “matter of national security”.
Everything prepared for quick accession
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees everything ready for a rapid ratification process. This could even be shot down before the parliamentary summer recess. Her Finnish colleague Pekko Haavisto said the matter will certainly not be settled overnight, but: “I am sure that we will find a solution to this matter.”
Sources: DPA, AFP, “”,
Source: Stern
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