Finnish FM Haavisto says 'had good negotiations' with Turkey on Finland, Sweden's NATO bid

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who held a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, affirmed that Finland, Sweden and Turkey had good negotiations on the NATO bids of Helsinki and Stockholm. While speaking at the meeting in Washington, Haavisto said he had visited Turkey twice to settle the dispute raised by Ankara regarding the NATO membership application submitted by Finland and Sweden. He went on to say that, understandably, different issues may be raised by different allies along the process, Finland has been in contact with Turkey to resolve all the issues. 

"Turkey has raised questions in conjunction with Finland’s and Sweden’s membership applications. I have been visiting Turkey twice this spring – at different levels regarding our NATO membership bid," he said.  Further, the Finnish minister said that Helsinki has been taking every concern raised by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "very seriously" and added that he believes both countries will further engage in dialogue to sort out the grievances.

"We wish to continue our constructive dialogue with allies and are ready to continue discussing the outstanding issues with Turkey. We take every NATO member’s concerns seriously. With Turkey, we are now in an open, direct, and constructive dialogue process to clarify all issues. This is important," Haavisto added.

Meanwhile, Blinken said that the Biden administration fully supports Finland and Sweden joining the alliance, and added that he continues to be confident that both countries will soon be NATO Allies.  

Turkey blocks Finland and Sweden's NATO bid

It is pertinent to mention here that last week, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, accepted the membership application of both Sweden and Finland amid fears of Russia's intention to harm Nordic countries. However, Turkey, which had earlier warned of hindering the plans of Sweden and Finland, blocked the US-backed military alliance's initial process. While reacting to their action against the countries, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged NATO allies to respect and support Ankara's concerns about its security.

"We see that there is no such attitude towards us," he said. Earlier, it was speculated that the approval of the first stage of Finland and Sweden’s application would be completed within one or two weeks. However, Turkey's move has made it nearly "impossible".

(Image: @SecBlinken/Twitter/AP)