Sweden out? Finland eyes NATO entry

Finland’s defense minister said Saturday that his country will join NATO without waiting for Sweden if its Nordic neighbor’s accession is held up by the Turkish government.

Mikko Savola said Saturday that Finland would prefer that that the two countries join the alliance together, but it wouldn’t hold up the process if Turkey decides to approve Finland, but not Sweden, as it has warned.

“No, no. Then we will join,” Savola said in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.

Since they broke with decades of non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland and Sweden have insisted they want to join NATO together. But Turkey’s reluctance to accept Sweden unless it steps up pressure on Kurdish exile groups has made it more likely the two will have to join the alliance at different speeds.

“Sweden is our closest partner,” Savola said. “Almost every week our defense forces are practicing together and so on. It’s a very deep cooperation, and we also trust fully each other. But it’s in Türkiye’s hands now.”

Speaking later Saturday at separate panels in Munich, Finland’s top officials struck similar notes. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Finland prefers to join NATO with Sweden but “cannot influence” how countries go about the ratification.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Turkey saying yes to Finland but no to Sweden would present a difficult situation.

“Our hands are in a way tied. We have applied for membership. Should we now say that ‘no, we cancel our application?’ No, that we can’t simply do,” Niinisto said.

All NATO countries except Turkey and Hungary have given both countries the green light to join the alliance.