Sweden will stay out while Finland integrates: Sweden

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at the Presidential Complex and gave the good news that the approval process for Finland's NATO membership would be initiated in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. Erdogan said that Sweden's membership would be determined on the basis of its approach in the fight against terrorism.

FEAR OF STAYING OUT

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, at a press conference, said that Türkiye only started the approval process for Finland, "As we predicted, Türkiye started the process to approve Finland's NATO membership. This was a development we did not want, but we are prepared," used the phrases.

Billström stated that Finland's becoming a NATO member before Sweden would not affect them much in the short term, and added, "We wanted to become a NATO member together with Finland. Sweden's being outside of NATO will not change anything in the short term. But it is also true that many things will change if this process takes longer. Finland will become more integrated into NATO, while Sweden will stay out."

Billström added that the Tripartite Memorandum agreement between Sweden and Türkiye on NATO membership continues.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, said, "We decided to start the approval process of Finland's NATO accession protocol in our Parliament, based on the sensitivity and progress achieved by our country in addressing security concerns." 

The Protocol on Finland's Accession to NATO was submitted to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.