USA: Finland's Sauli Niinisto said on Wednesday that he anticipates getting a favourable response from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan when they meet later this week regarding Helsinki's membership in the US-led military alliance.
Niinisto is due to land in Turkey on Thursday and will tour the areas affected by the quakes in February, which claimed nearly 50,000 lives. On Friday, he will meet with Erdogan in Istanbul to learn the Turkish president's choice directly.
Erdogan's response to the question of whether Turkey would approve Finland's application on Tuesday was, "God willing, if it is for the best."
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Following the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO last year. Each of the bloc's 30 members must approve their admission. However, Ankara has delayed Stockholm's application due to unresolved issues involving Kurdish activists, who Turkey views as terrorists, who are being protected in Sweden, an arms embargo, and religious provocations.
Finland made a signal last month that it was prepared to move forward on its own, despite the NATO leadership's desire to admit both Nordic countries simultaneously. Sweden reluctantly accepted the new course of events while still holding out hope that the problems with Turkey would be resolved.
Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, expressed his hope that Ankara would approve his nation's application after the mid-May Turkish general election while in Germany on Tuesday.
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Another obstacle to Helsinki and Stockholm joining NATO was Hungary, which was supposed to ratify their applications this week. But due to "a delay in negotiations with Brussels," the government has decided to postpone the parliamentary session. Budapest must adhere to a set of policy requirements set forth by the EU before the funds designated for Hungary can be released.
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Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, has accused Finland and Sweden, two other EU members, of spreading "outright lies" about the democracy and rule of law in his nation. The governing Fidesz party has stated that it will decide on the NATO application after hearing the findings from the parliamentary delegation that visited Sweden and Finland.