The Turkish president has signalled he might support Finland’s accession process to the Western defence alliance NATO while withholding approval for the membership of the country’s Nordic neighbour Sweden.

“If necessary, we can send a different message regarding Finland,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech to young people, according to local media reports.

The Turkish president added, “Sweden will be shocked if we make a different statement regarding Finland.”

At the same time, he warned Finland against making the same “mistakes” as its neighbour.

After decades of neutrality, Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

However, the ratification requires unanimous approval, and member Turkey has so far refused to agree, initially citing security concerns. Since then, diplomatic efforts have been underway to address Ankara’s fears.

Last week, Erdoğan said that Sweden could not count on his country’s support for accession after a right-wing extremist politician burned a Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Ankara has also accused prospective Nordic member countries of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, which Turkey classifies as terrorist groups.

NATO member state Hungary also still hasn’t approved the accession process for Sweden and Finland. 

(dpa/NAN)