The NATO military alliance is set to hold a summit in July in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Hungary and Turkey are the only two countries in the alliance that have not ratified Sweden and Finland’s accession, which requires unanimous agreement from all member states.
What did Erdogan say about Finland’s NATO bid?
Erdogan said in a pre-recorded video released on Sunday — in which he is seen addressing young people in the central-western Bilecek province — that Turkey could choose to approve Finland’s NATO membership and not Sweden.
“If needed, we could give a different message about Finland,” Erdogan said. “Sweden will be shocked when we give the different message about Finland.”
“If you absolutely want to join NATO, you will return these terrorists to us,” Erdogan said, referring to Ankara’s demands that Sweden extradite Kurdish militants.
Earlier this week, Finland hinted that it could join the NATO military alliance separately from Sweden if progress isn’t made on Stockholm’s bid.
“We still have to evaluate the situation if it turns out that Sweden’s application is stalling for a long time to come,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
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