Erdoğan approves the NATO applicant

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that his country's parliament will ratify Finland's application to join the NATO bloc, while Sweden remains in limbo. Finland and Sweden renounced their neutrality and applied to join the US-led bloc last May, in response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine. Accession to NATO requires unanimous consent of all existing members, but Erdogan demanded that the two applicants lift arms embargoes on Türkiye, extradite alleged Kurdish and Gulenist terrorists, and investigate the activity of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Finland and Sweden agreed to these demands in a trilateral memorandum signed last June, but Ankara has accused Stockholm of holding out on its promises. Swedish authorities deny the accusations, but Erdogan remains unconvinced, and the Swedish authorities' refusal to stop a recent Koran-burning protest further inflamed tensions.

Sweden's chances of getting into NATO will be directly tied to the concrete steps that Sweden will take in the "fight against terrorism." Niinisto said that his own country's membership bid would not be "complete without Sweden," adding that the two states "have so much common interest". All current NATO members with the exception of Hungary have ratified Sweden's and Finland's applications.