After all the key leaders had held their press conferences, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the stage at the NATO summit. He said that Sweden and Finland must fulfill their promises in order to join NATO. – If not, it is impossible to send the agreement to parliament to be adopted, he said. The move came just two days after he agreed to lift the blockade. Why did he do that? Erdogan wanted to send a message to Sweden and Finland. The President of Finland and the Prime Minister of Sweden had stated in advance that it is not up to them, but to the court, to take a position on extradition requests. In the agreement with Turkey, the two countries have promised to enter into extradition agreements and process existing Turkish extradition requests for terrorist suspects quickly and thoroughly. But without promising anything about the outcome of the cases. The plot about the court’s independent role may have led the Turkish president to question the depth of the desire to listen to Turkey’s terrorist concerns. If it is solely up to the court to act to address their concerns, then why do politicians make promises? Left, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Andrea Comas / AP Do not lose face Erdogan also spoke to his own voters when he came up with the new demands. His supporters like him defending Turkey’s case and not giving in at the doors. And he needs all the support he can get if he is to win the election in less than a year. But the president has been criticized in his home country since entering into the agreement. Nationalists, who usually support Erdogan, have said the agreement is too vague. The opposition criticizes him for wavering on the NATO issue, because he stated earlier in June that Sweden and Finland were not allowed to join NATO as long as he was in power. There has been a standing joke on social media in recent weeks in Turkey that Sweden and Finland will join NATO. Precisely because the president said no. Erdogan is notorious for his upheavals. But can Turkey still block membership for Sweden and Finland? Turkey can in theory do that, but the question is whether they will. Turkey has previously supported NATO enlargement, most recently when Northern Macedonia joined two years ago. Erdogan is thus not against new members, but is now at a new stage in the process where he sees an opportunity to negotiate. But for Erdogan, it has also been important to get back into the heat of the West. In particular, the mood has been at the freezing point between US President Joe Biden and Erdogan due to Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile defense system almost four years ago. Turkey wants to buy F-16 fighter jets from the Americans, which Erdogan has now received Biden’s support for, although it must be approved by Congress. Turkey hopes to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States, but it must be approved by Congress. Photo: Aijaz Rahi / AP The Accession Protocol will soon be sent to all 30 NATO countries for parliamentary approval. At the same time, new negotiations may be imminent. But while it may take several rounds before the incorporation is a fact, this expansion is unlikely to stop completely because of Turkey.
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Are Finnish and Swedish NATO membership still in play? – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
