Turkey objects as Sweden and Finland seek NATO membership
Sweden on Monday decided to join neighboring Finland in seeking NATO membership, ending more than two centuries of military nonalignment in a historic shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The move drew strong objections from Turkey, a key NATO member who declared the two nations should not be allowed to join because they have been too lax in taking action against Kurdish militants. Countries can only join NATO if all current members agree.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned that the Nordic country would be in a “vulnerable position” during the application period and urged her fellow citizens to brace themselves for the Russian response.
“Russia has said that it will take countermeasures if we join NATO,” she said. “We cannot rule out that Sweden will be exposed to, for instance, disinformation and attempts to intimidate and divide us.”
Sweden’s move came a day after the country’s governing Social Democratic party endorsed a plan for Sweden to join the trans-Atlantic alliance and Finland’s government announced that it would seek to join NATO.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday ratcheted up his objection to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, accusing the countries of failing to take a “clear” stance against Kurdish militants and other groups that his country considers to as terrorists, and of imposing military sanctions on Turkey.
Erdogan also accused the two countries of refusing to extradite “terrorists” wanted by his country.