The countries\u2019 leaders meet the US president at the White House as they seek a resolution with Turkey
\nWashington
\nThe US president, Joe Biden, has welcomed the Finnish and Swedish leaders to the White House promising full support for their membership applications to what he called a \u201crevived Nato\u201d in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.
\nIn their remarks in the Rose Garden, the Finnish president, Sauli Niinist\u00f6, and the Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, addressed the only major barrier to their countries\u2019 accession to the alliance: the objections of the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, who restated on Thursday his resolve to veto their membership.
\n\u201cWe will continue our policy in a determined way. We have told allies that we will say no to Finland and Sweden\u2019s Nato membership,\u201d Erdo\u011fan told Turkish students in a video uploaded on his official Twitter account. All 30 alliance members have to approve the acceptance of a new ally.
\nErdo\u011fan accused Sweden and Finland of harbouring and financing the Kurdistan Workers party militant group and Syrian Kurdish YPG, who he deems to be \u201cterrorists\u201d.
\nIn his Rose Garden comments, Niinist\u00f6 addressed those accusations directly.
\n\u201cFinland has always had proud and good bilateral relations with Turkey. As Nato allies, we will commit to Turkey\u2019s security, just as Turkey will commit to our security,\u201d the Finnish president said. \u201cWe take terrorism seriously. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and we are actively engaged in combating it. We are open to discussing all the concerns Turkey may have concerning our membership in an open and constructive manner. These discussions have already taken place and they will continue in the next days.\u201d
\nHe emphasised the contribution that Finland would make to the alliance.
\n\u201cFinland\u2019s armed forces are one of the strongest in Europe,\u201d Niinist\u00f6 said. \u201cWe have also consistently invested in developing capabilities. The Finns\u2019 willingness to defend the country is one of the highest in the whole world.\u201d
\nIn her speech, Andersson said that the Swedish government was \u201cright now having a dialogue with all Nato member countries, including Turkey, on different levels to sort out any issues at hand\u201d.
\nShe underlined the historic shift that Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine had brought about.
\n\u201cAfter 200 years of military non-alignment, Sweden has chosen a new path,\u201d the Swedish prime minister said. \u201cRussia\u2019s full scale aggression against a sovereign and democratic neighbour was a watershed moment for Sweden. And my government has come to the conclusion that the security of the Swedish people will be best protected within the Nato alliance. And this is backed by very broad support in the Swedish parliament.\u201d
\nBiden did not refer to Turkish opposition in his upbeat speech outside the White House, but noted that both candidate Nato members \u201cmeet every Nato requirement and then some\u201d.
\n\u201cHaving two new Nato members in the high north will enhance the security of our alliances and deepen our security cooperation across the board,\u201d the US president said. \u201cToday there is no question Nato is relevant, that it\u2019s effective and that it\u2019s more needed now than ever.\u201d
\nAfter the Rose Garden remarks, the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters: \u201cWhen the president met … the president of Finland and the prime minister of Sweden, he indicated that they\u2019re both intending to speak directly to President Erdo\u011fan and their teams are going to engage directly with senior Turkish officials.\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re there to support that effort in any way but we think they can work through this and ultimately Finland and Sweden will be admitted as members,\u201d Sullivan added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The countries\u2019 leaders meet the US president at the White House as they seek a resolution with Turkey Washington The US president, Joe Biden, has welcomed the Finnish and Swedish leaders to the White House promising full support for their membership applications to what he called a \u201crevived Nato\u201d in the wake of the Ukraine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5934,503,7492,5933],"class_list":{"0":"post-261714","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-finland","9":"tag-joe-biden","10":"tag-revived-nato","11":"tag-sweden"},"yoast_head":"\n