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Sweden and the PKK: Two days before the NATO accession deadline: An updated assessment of the Russian threat and the embassy scene in Turkey
After a meeting with his counterparts from Sweden and Finland the Secretary of State said that the US would soon be able to call them.
Finland and Sweden submitted applications for NATO membership last June, assuming we’d be on a fast track to accession. Our applications were submitted simultaneously to signal that we were united in our assessment of the Russian threat. In the next several months, if all goes according to plan, our two countries will become NATO members.
The Turkish President demanded that the two countries stop providing shelter to members of the PKK, which is seeking an independent state in Turkey.
The Turkish embassy in Sweden was the scene of a Koran burning by protesters last month. Ankara has so far prevented membership for Sweden in NATO, even though it may be willing to accept it as a future member.
Before his current posting, Mr. Pressman had served as ambassador to the United Nations for special political affairs and as an assistant secretary of homeland security. He also worked at the White House as director for war crimes and atrocities on the National Security Council.
Hungary’s dependence on the United States as seen by its EU leader: The case of Sweden, Norway, and the NATO bid for membership of the NATO military alliance
Meetings with Hungarian officials, Mr. Pressman said, are usually civil and pragmatic in tone but often start with his host saying: “Ambassador, it’s wonderful to meet you. I am aware you want to talk about gender progressive issues.
I stopped them and told them I wanted to speak to them about Hungary’s dependence on Putin. They always want to talk about a culture war. We want to have a conversation about a real war that exists next door.”
Orban is the EU leader that is closest to Putin. The Hungarian Member of the European Parliament, Katalin Cseh, describes the blocking of the Sweden and Finland bids by Orban as a favor to Putin. She believes that Orban, who has been accused of drifting towards autocratic leadership, has “invested over a decade to copy his policies and build up a Putinist model,” and that any perceived NATO victory over Putin “puts his whole regime in jeopardy.”
Unlike Serbia, Hungary’s neighbor to the south, which has deep, historic ties with Russia and strong anti-American currents as a result of NATO’s United States-led bombing campaign against it in 1999, Hungary has traditionally looked favorably on the United States — except when Hungary was part of the Soviet bloc and its Communist leaders parroted Moscow-dictated propaganda.
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.
Tuning relations between Turkey and Sweden after the Qassolu protest in Stockholm: What can we learn from a public opinion poll?
Relations between Turkey and Sweden also deteriorated after Çavuşoğlu accused the Swedish government of being complicit in the burning of the Quran at a protest in Stockholm in January.
“They have removed any restrictions on arms exports, strengthened their legislation on terrorism. And Sweden is also amending their constitution and stepped up the cooperation with Türkiye, also established a permanent mechanism to continue to work closely with Türkiye in the fight against terrorism,” he continued.
This week, Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö met in Sweden with the prime ministers of Sweden and Norway, and said at a follow-up press conference: “To the extent that it is up to us, we will go hand in hand But Turkey has ratification in its own hands, and we can’t do anything about that.”
Editor’s Note: Marja Heinonen, a Finnish author of several books, has more than three decades’ experience as a journalist, editor and in academia, and holds a doctorate in communications. The views she expresses are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.
How Can Finns Part Ways with Sweden? A Horny Question for Finns: Are We Going To Join NATO or Sweden? An Empirical Study
We are not just neighbors, we are bound together by history. The kingdom of Sweden ruled parts of the Nordic country for 500 years. And along with Finnish, Swedish is one of two official languages in Finland. Finns speak the language in a good way.
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.
Political observers in Hungary say Budapest seems likely to relent as the application process proceeds this spring. The Hungarian parliament has scheduled a vote on the NATO bids ofFinland andSweden in March, and officials said they expect to approve both bids.
All of this raises a thorny question for Finns: Is this where we part ways with Stockholm? When it comes to securing a coveted spot in the NATO military alliance, is it every man – every nation – for itself?
For the last few months, that uncomfortable possibility has been openly debated in political and security circles, and among average citizens in my country of some 5.5 million people. Despite uncertainty as to whether the two Nordic allies can continue to move forward together officials from both countries are moving ahead.
Sanna Marin said in a press conference in Sweden that she wanted her country to join NATO. There are different 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. It won’t make much of a difference if both Sweden and Finn join first, others feel. Both nations are looking to close the deal as soon as possible in an uncertain world.
The survey found that a slim majority of Finns would be willing to join the alliance if it was ahead of Sweden.
The tone of the debate has softened in recent days due to threats. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Thursday he has seen progress in talks with Turkey on Sweden’s membership bid and still aims to have both Sweden and Finland join the alliance by the time of its July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
NATO diplomats are split on whether they think Turkey will budge before the July summit. This year’s Turkish election is seen as the biggest threat to Erdogan since he took office, and both school of thought agree on that.
The image that the strongman created of himself has been shattered by the Turkish people. “There is a lot of anti-West and anti-Kurd sentiment in Turkey at the moment. This is a good subject for him to talk about and a sudden U-turn would make him look weak.
The FINANCIAL — “Russia has been a lifesaver for Turkey, after other nations imposed sanctions for their activities in Syria, their cooperation military with Russia and other hostile activity.” Without the help of the Russians, Erdogan would not be able to raise wages or provide financial help to students. He is promising that there will be mass rebuilding after the earthquake. Russia is still an attractive partner to have.
Like many Western officials, Tol believes the Turkish claims about Sweden and Finland harboring terrorists provide perfect cover for Erdogan not to engage at a politically inconvenient time on the NATO question.
While nothing may come from the talks due between the three parties on Thursday, a conversation is taking place about how much political capital Erdogan might have to spend after the election, should he win.
Turkish officials are bracing for the country to make unrealistic demands such as the lifting of sanctions or allowing Turkey to purchase fighter jets in order to keep the air force up to date.
The Future of the NATO Alliance in the Presence of an End of the Ukraine War – Is Russia Ready to Leave the Cold War?
Prime Minister Orban publicly stated that he is not opposed to the Nordic nations joining, but continues to find ways to stall the decision becoming official.
One of the main reasons for invading Ukrainian was to stop NATO expansion, which is ironic considering how much Putin hates NATO. The fact that his aggression might have pushed a historically unaligned country into NATO is still seen by most in the West as a huge own goal by the Kremlin.
Until an agreement is reached, however, the future of the alliance remains somewhat up in the air. Finland and Sweden have effectively picked a side since the start of the Ukraine conflict. It seems unlikely that they will return to a position of neutrality if the war were to suddenly end.
The risk for NATO and the Western alliance comes if they don’t join the alliance at all and the Russian government can use it for propaganda. If that happens, even if the war suddenly ends, the narrative of a divided West will continue to be the drum that NATO’s opponents can bang.
