Turkey is likely to be the last country to ratify protocols on Finland's and Sweden's accession to NATO, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Saturday
HELSINKI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2022) Turkey is likely to be the last country to ratify protocols on Finland's and Sweden's accession to NATO, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Saturday.
In May, Finland and Sweden submitted membership applications to NATO amid Russia's military operation in Ukraine. The membership bids were initially blocked by Turkey due to the two nations' long-standing support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. The process was later unblocked at the NATO summit at the end of June in Madrid as the countries managed to sign necessary agreements following rounds of consultations.
"The ratifications that we saw were carried out very quickly ... I think that during the summer there will be regular news and positive ones. At the same time, Turkey will probably be the last on this list (to ratify the accession)," Niinisto told Finnish broadcaster MTV3.
Niinisto said that possible rapprochement between Turkey and Russia will not affect the process of joining the bloc by Finland and Sweden.
As of Friday, 15 out of 30 countries have ratified the applications of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
