Finland says time-out needed in talks with Türkiye over NATO bid

Pekka Haavisto, Foreign Minister of Finland

© APA | Pekka Haavisto, Foreign Minister of Finland

# 25 January 2023 14:42 (UTC +04:00)

Finland’s foreign minister said on Tuesday a time-out of a few weeks was needed in Finland and Sweden’s talks with Türkiye on their application to join the NATO military allianceç APA reports citing Euronews.

Türkiye’s president said on Monday that Sweden should not expect his country’s support after a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend, which included the burning of a copy of the Quran.

“A time-out is needed before we return to the three-way talks and see where we are when the dust has settled after the current situation, so no conclusions should be drawn yet,” said Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

“I think there will be a break for a couple of weeks.”

Initially hoping for swift approval last year, Haavisto now believes Ankara is unlikely to decide on whether to accept the Finnish and Swedish applications until after the Turkish elections due in mid-May.

“Of course they feel the pressure from the upcoming elections in mid-May and because of that the discussion understandably has become heated in many ways in Türkiye,” Haavisto said.

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