Ankara Will Not Approve Sweden, Finland NATO Membership Under Current Conditions, Turkish FM Says

ANKARA (Sputnik) - The Turkish parliament will not ratify the protocol on the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland under the current conditions, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

"Swedish Foreign Minister [Tobias Billstrom] came to visit us. He was in the parliament, met with parties. He heard that all parties are equally declaring that without the fulfillment of the obligations assumed to us, the ratification of the protocol is impossible. Therefore, in the current conditions, it is not necessary to talk about the approval of this document," Tobias Billström said at a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart.

Ankara may "look positively" at Finland's membership in NATO if Helsinki and the alliance decide on a separate application from Sweden, the minister added.

On May 18, 2022, against the backdrop of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership. Their accession protocols have already been ratified by all NATO members except Hungary and Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sweden should not count on Turkish support for the application to join NATO. Earlier, trilateral talks among Turkey, Sweden and Finland on NATO membership were postponed at Ankara's request.