It may have to dump an old friend to join NATO

Sweden is the closest defense partner vis-a-vis Finland, the prime minister of Finland avuolu, and the terrorist leader Sauli Niinist

“Based on everything I know, both countries will be able to call us our allies very soon” Blinksen told the State Department. “There can be no doubt on anyone’s part that they are ready today to be members of the alliance.”

This would seem to suggest thatFinland is preparing for a scenario in which Turkey is the first to approve Finns and leave the question of Sweden becoming a member of NATO for another day.

Turkey sees the PKK as a terrorist organization, and has accused both countries of aiding and abetting its members.

The Turkish president is particularly displeased with Sweden, accusing it of being like a guest house for terror organizations. The two countries that Ankara extradites wanted individuals to live in their territory.

Finland and Sweden’s applications to join the NATO military alliance could be assessed separately, Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday.

“After the declaration that a different decision could be reached in relation to Finland, we discussed this matter with the countries involved and NATO,” he said.

Relations between Sweden and Turkey deteriorated after Turkish Prime Minister avuolu accused the Swedes of being involved in the burning of the Quran.

“They have removed any restrictions on arms exports, strengthened their legislation on terrorism. Sweden is amending their constitution, and in the fight against terrorism they established a permanent mechanism to work closely with Trkiye.

At a press conference after meeting with the prime minister of Sweden and Norway, Sauli Niinist said that he would go hand in hand with the prime minister of Turkey.

Marja Heinonen is a journalist, editor, and PhD student with more than 30 years of experience. Her views are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.

In recent decades, our two countries have also been close military allies. Sweden is the closest defense partner to Finns. The two countries have cooperated on defense in the past. That close military cooperation is one of the reasons why, when many other countries in northern and eastern Europe rushed to join NATO, Helsinki and Stockholm chose to remain outside. We felt we had our mutual defense needs covered vis-a-vis Russia.

Finland also has robust military defenses which we developed as a matter of exigency, living in the shadow of a powerful Russian neighbor with whom we already went to war once before, back when it was part of the Soviet Union. Until one year ago, we Finns actually harbored the idea that our eastern neighbor had become a peace-loving trading partner, and no longer posed a threat to our national security.

US President Joe Biden underscored the importance of the article during his meetings in Poland this week with leaders from the so-called Bucharest Nine countries – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – on the frontline of any potential hostilities with Moscow.

The fate of the NATO alliance in Hungary and Sweden: Copenhagen vs. Sweden’s case for a military alliance in an uncertain world

As the application process begins this spring, political observers say that Hungary will likely relent. Hungarian lawmakers have scheduled a vote on Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO bids in early March, and officials have signaled that they expect to approve both bids.

So it would appear that July’s NATO summit could also seal the fate of Sweden – and definitively determine whether Helsinki ditches its old friend and forges ahead into the military alliance alone.

It has been a point of discussion in political, security, and average citizens of my country over the last few months. Officials from both countries are plowing ahead, even amid growing uncertainty as to whether the two Nordic allies can move forward together.

Sanna Marin said that her country would join NATO “hand in hand” with Sweden. There are, however, varying interpretations of “hand in hand.”

Some Finns think, in fact, that it makes sense for us to go first, given the more than 800-mile long border we share with Russia, creating a greater security risk. Others feel that in the end, it won’t make all that much difference if Finland joins first and Sweden joins a few months from now. Both nations are determined to close the deal as soon as possible in an uncertain world.

A survey this month by the Taloustutkimus polling group found a slim majority (53%) of Finns saying that they would be willing to join the alliance ahead of Sweden.

The NATO leader added that Turkey, Finland and Sweden will hold a meeting at alliance headquarters next month “to address the challenges” that have hampered Sweden’s accession application.