Finnish President Sauli Niinisto pledged on Thursday to commit to Turkey’s security when and if his country became a NATO member, and said Finland was open to discussing Ankara’s concerns over its proposed NATO membership. accession.
Speaking at the White House, where President Joe Biden welcomed the leaders of Finland and Sweden after their formal application for NATO membership, Niinisto said that his country is already in discussions to address Turkey’s concerns and that those talks will continue in the coming days. .
“Finland has always had good and proud bilateral relations with Turkey. As NATO allies, we will commit to Turkey’s security, just as Turkey will commit to our security,” Niinisto said.
“We take terrorism seriously. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and are actively engaged in fighting it. We are open to discussing any concerns Turkey may have regarding our membership in an open and constructive way,” he said.
Finland and Sweden say they were spurred on to join NATO by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reversing generations of military misalignment to deliver the biggest shake-up to European security in decades.
Turkey surprised NATO allies last week by opposing the measure, accusing both countries of harboring Kurdish militants.
So far, Washington has played down Turkish objections, saying it hopes the issues will be resolved.
Source: CNN Brasil
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