Sweden’s new prime minister visits Finland, discusses NATO membership

By Rabia Iclal Turan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Sweden’s new prime minister on Friday paid an official visit to Finland, where he met his Finnish counterpart and discussed the two countries’ NATO membership bids.

In a joint news conference, ​​Ulf Kristersson said: “We are already committed to fulfilling our obligations according to that agreement and that we do it firmly and we do it as rapidly as possible," referring to the tripartite agreement signed by Türkiye, Sweden and Finland in June.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, for her part, said Finland and Sweden want to join NATO “hand-in-hand.”

"NATO membership for Finland and Sweden would strengthen the security of our countries as well as the security of the whole northern Europe,” she added.

The two premiers also discussed the bilateral relations, the war in Ukraine and their energy policy.

The Swedish prime minister will visit Türkiye on Nov. 8, where he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the bilateral ties and the Nordic country’s NATO bid.

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

However, Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.

The three countries signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding at NATO’s June summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the PKK/YPG – the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian offshoot – or the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.