Finland, Sweden committed to joining NATO together: PM

Prime Minister Marin on Thursday said that Finland would continue to advance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership process together with Sweden, said a government press release.

“We will continue to proceed together as we have done so far. Finland and Sweden are part of the same security environment. The earliest possible approval of our NATO memberships is in the interests of Finland, Sweden and all of NATO. We must now remain united and consistent,” Marin said at a joint press after a meeting with her Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm.

They also discussed the security situation, EU economy and competitiveness, other topical EU matters, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and Finland and Sweden’s joint NATO membership process.

"Last spring, we started our common path to join NATO. This journey must be made hand in hand and in common accord, just like we started it," Marin said, reported Xinhua.

Marin's remark came three days after Turkish foreign minister said that his country could evaluate Finland's NATO bid separately from Sweden's to distinguish "between a problematic country and a less problematic one."

The issue became no less topical after Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reported on the result of a poll showing that the majority of Finns were ready to join NATO without Sweden, Swedish Television (SVT) reported on Thursday.

Asked by a reporter about the result of the poll, Marin reiterated that Finland intends to join NATO together with Sweden.

"I think it is very important that we today send a very clear message: Finland and Sweden applied together, and it is in everybody's interest that we join NATO together," Marin said.

At a press conference in Ankara on Monday, Jan. 30, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that although the two Nordic countries had requested to join NATO together, Finland had taken some steps, while there were "provocations" in Sweden.

Among other things, Turkey has objected to a demonstration in Stockholm, where a copy of the Quran was burnt outside the Turkish Embassy.

Turkey has also postponed a trilateral meeting with Sweden and Finland on their NATO bids.

Turkey is demanding concrete Finnish and Swedish actions to address Turkish security concerns over extraditing hostile groups members before it unblocks their accession into NATO.

Another country Hungary did not ratify the membership yet, although Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on November 2 assured President Sauli Niinistö that his country will ratify Finland´s NATO accession protocol.

Finland and Sweden submitted the NATO membership applications in May.

Their accession procedure officially started in early July after 30 NATO members, including Turkey signed accession protocols.

So far 28 countries out of total 30 ratified the NATO accession protocols for Finland and Sweden.

The countries are USA, Italy, Canada, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, United Kingdom, Albania, Poland, Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Lithuania, Montenegro, Belgium, North Macedonia, France, Czech Republic, Greece, Spain Portugal and Slovakia ratified the membership protocols.

In late June, the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Sweden and Turkey signed a trilateral memorandum which confirms that Turkey will support the Finland´s and Sweden´s NATO membership applications.