Türkiye has raised “important security concerns” about Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.
The top U.S. diplomat said he is “confident” that the effort to gain Türkiye and Hungary’s support for their additions to the transatlantic alliance is “moving forward in a process that is appropriate, and that we will soon welcome them as members.”
“Turkey has raised important security concerns in this process, and the process is being used effectively and productively to address those concerns,” Blinken said as he hosted his Finnish and Swedish counterparts at the State Department.
“What both countries have done in engaging with Turkey, and with NATO itself, has been to address those concerns in tangible ways. And we’ve seen these countries take tangible steps to, again, address the concerns that Turkey has raised,” he added.
Blinken, speaking at a press briefing following meetings at the State Department with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts, said that the two nations are already integrating into the work of the alliance.
“This is not a bilateral issue between the United States and Turkey. And it’s not going to turn into one,” Blinken said, adding that Finland and Sweden have had a productive process working with Türkiye to address concerns and concrete steps have been taken.
“I have every expectation that both will formally become members soon.”
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment, a decision spurred by Russia’s war against Ukraine. But Türkiye, a NATO member for more than 70 years, voiced objections to their membership bids, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups. Türkiye has demanded the Nordic countries take a tougher stance on terrorist groups in exchange for its backing.
Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum in June at a NATO summit to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for people Ankara deems terrorists. Sweden and Finland said they “confirm” the PKK is a terrorist organization and promised “to not provide support” to its Syrian affiliate YPG. They also lifted an arms embargo on Türkiye that was imposed following its 2019 Syria operation against the PKK/YPG.
The Parliaments of Türkiye and Hungary have yet to ratify the NATO applications. The 28 other NATO states have already done so. Any decision on NATO enlargement requires approval by all alliance members.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have warned that Türkiye will not give the nod to the memberships of Sweden and Finland until the memorandum is implemented.
Speaking alongside Blinken and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Stockholm is working to address concerns raised by Türkiye “step by step” within the framework of the trilateral memorandum and Sweden’s domestic laws.
“Within those limits, everything will be fulfilled,” he said. “I, myself, am going to Ankara to continue the discussions with mine and Pekka’s Turkish colleague on the spot, and I hope that the outcome of our discussion will also bring us forward.”
“The constant dialogue between the governments between the authorities in the various countries — it’s also important to underline the support of the fulfillment of a memorandum,” he added.
Haavisto said in subsequent meetings with Turkish officials, “many issues have been clarified regarding Turkey’s concern on the terrorism. PKK as an organization — is a forbidden organization in the whole Europe, including Finland and Sweden.”
“Those issues that are mentioned in the three-part memorandum are very much fulfilled,” he added.
Haavisto said Finland hoped to finalize the process of NATO membership soon.
“We take the security concerns of all allies seriously. Finland is a security provider whose membership will further strengthen the alliance as a whole.”