Status: 05/18/2022 10:44 p.m
The US government is optimistic that Finland and Sweden will soon be able to join NATO. But Turkey sticks to its no. Foreign Minister Cavusoglu again accused the two countries of supporting terrorist organizations.
For the time being, Turkey is sticking to its stance of blocking the process for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. After a meeting with Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Turkish press that he had made Turkey’s position on the northern expansion of the military alliance clear to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Basically, Cavusoglu rated the talks with his US colleague as “extremely positive”. Blinken said Turkey’s concerns were legitimate, Cavusoglu said.
Sweden and Finland had officially applied for admission to the defense alliance shortly before the NATO Council meeting on Wednesday morning, but Turkey blocked the start of the process for the time being. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously made it clear several times that he did not want to agree to Finland and Sweden joining.
Rejection because of alleged terror support
Turkey has always justified its stance with alleged support from both countries for the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria. Turkey sees the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the US. Turkey is taking action in northern Syria against the YPG – which is not listed as a terrorist organization in the USA and Europe.
In New York, Cavusoglu again accused Finland and Sweden of supporting terrorist organizations and separately accused Sweden of supplying weapons to the YPG. Turkey’s security concerns must be taken into account, Cavusoglu stressed.
US “confident”
Shortly before Cavusoglu’s statements, the US government of President Joe Biden was still optimistic about Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO accession process. “We are confident that Finland and Sweden will eventually have an effective and efficient accession process that can address Turkey’s concerns,” said Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan. “Finland and Sweden are working directly with Turkey to achieve this, but we are also speaking to the Turks to try and facilitate the process.”
Sullivan said he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to their respective Turkish counterparts on Wednesday – “and we are very optimistic about future developments.” Biden receives Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö at the White House on Thursday.
Baerbock: “Everyone knows about their responsibility”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock appealed to Ankara’s sense of responsibility. “I think at this moment everyone knows about their responsibility in such a difficult situation,” the Greens politician in New York replied succinctly to a corresponding question, without explicitly naming Turkey.
Support from Croatia
Turkey can count on support in Croatia in its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO. “Turkey will negotiate a high price for its NATO status,” said President Zoran Milanovic. Croatia should follow this example.
Socialist Milanovic wants the electoral law in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina to be changed in favor of Croatians living there before the Croatian parliament ratifies Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership. He is also at odds with conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on domestic policy issues. However, Plenkovic’s ruling party has a narrow majority in parliament ahead of the Socialists and could therefore push through a vote on NATO expansion.