Helsinki: The majority of Finns are ready to join NATO without waiting for Sweden

A majority of Finns favor their country joining NATO without waiting for Sweden, blocked indefinitely by Turkey, according to a poll published Thursday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested on Sunday for the first time that the Turkish parliament could ratify Finland’s membership without Sweden’s jointly notified one.

According to a poll by the Taloustutkimus Institute published by the Finnish daily “Ilta-Sanomat”, 53% of respondents believe that Finland should not “wait for Sweden”, even “if it takes longer to ratify due to, for example, Turkey’s resistance.” Only 28% think the country should wait for Sweden to jointly join the military alliance, according to this survey of 1,021 Finns between January 30 and February 1.

Turning their backs on their traditional non-alignment, the two countries jointly applied for NATO in May 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Suspended from approval by all member states of the alliance, Sweden’s and Finland’s candidacies are currently blocked by Turkey.

Turkey is particularly critical of Sweden’s refusal to extradite dozens of suspects Ankara links to militants from Kurdish “terrorist” groups and the failed 2016 coup attempt.

Stockholm’s decision to allow a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm earlier this month, in which a Koran was burned, drew the ire of Ankara, which put an end to the talks after the postponement of a tripartite meeting scheduled for February.

On Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted for the first time that Turkey could approve Finland’s candidacy without doing the same for Sweden. Finland confirmed its desire to join the alliance with Sweden.