US President Joe Biden said that he had previously warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the possibility of Finland joining NATO, but did not know that Sweden would want to join the bloc along with it. It is reported by RBC.
“As I told my Russian colleague… you will get Finland into NATO. But I didn’t know that Sweden would also join,” Biden said at a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO, but the process of their accession to the alliance was blocked by Turkey and Hungary. NATO membership requires the consent of all members. The key requirement of the Turkish authorities was the extradition by Sweden of citizens who are considered terrorists in Ankara, we are talking about the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
After the burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to approve Sweden’s application to NATO. The head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Tobias Billstrom, then announced that the process of the country’s entry into the alliance was suspended.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto admitted that the country could continue joining the bloc without Sweden. Turkey allowed separate consideration of Helsinki’s application.
Source: Rosbalt
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