Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that he is against Finland and Sweden joining NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, the Turkish leader accused the two Scandinavian countries of harboring “terrorists” from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a movement that fights for itself, saying he does not want the “same mistake” made with Greece’s membership to be repeated. The establishment of the Kurdish state.
“We do not have a positive view. Scandinavian countries are like guesthouses for terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said. Turkey has the second largest army in NATO after the United States and has tried to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow.
Finland and Sweden are members of the European Union, but have historically preferred to maintain a neutral position between the Western alliance and Russia.
However, the invasion of Ukraine, motivated by Kiev’s growing rapprochement with the West, prompted both countries to rethink their current situation.
In Finland, President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin issued a joint statement advocating NATO membership, whose demand should be formalized in the coming days.
In Sweden, a security report released today by Parliament indicated that the country’s eventual accession to the military alliance would reduce the risk of conflict in northern Europe.
The Kremlin has threatened to take countermeasures if Scandinavian countries join NATO, but acknowledged that the nature of the response will depend on the proximity of future bases to the Russian border – Finland and Russia share a 1,300-kilometer border.
President Vladimir Putin chaired the country’s Security Council meeting on Friday to discuss “potential threats” from NATO enlargement, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
source: Noticias
