HELSINKI, FINLAND (Nettavisen): – I have always wanted it, as long as I can remember, says Tuula Koski about Finland’s NATO application.
She and her sister Anne Koski run a flower shop in a market in the Merihaka neighborhood in central Helsinki. As 76 percent of Finland’s population, they also support Finnish NATO membership.
Sweden and Finland submitted their NATO applications on 18 May, but in order to become members, all 30 NATO countries must approve a formal ratification process.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said no to Swedish and Finnish membership, unless they meet a list of requirements from the Turkish government.
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According to Turkish state media, Erdogan made a new claim on Wednesday. During a press conference with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he answered questions about Sweden and Finland’s NATO process.
“NATO is a security organization, not a terrorist organization,” Erdogan said. according to the news agency Anadolu.
– Turkey can not support Sweden’s NATO membership, while its state television shows interviews with terrorist leaders. The same goes for Finland, Erdogan said.
Erdogan then apparently referred to the Finnish broadcaster Yle and the Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavsto made a brief comment on the statement on the same day.
– Yle, like other media, has full freedom of the press, he said according to Yle.
– He’s like Putin
Delegations from both Sweden and Finland have held talks with Turkey, but negotiations have so far not progressed.
In the meantime, Finland and Sweden have received security guarantees from a number of countries, including Norway.
– He’s like Putin, I mean. And so do many others in Finland, says Tuula Koski.
– It is the same with Hungary, they think just like Putin, she says.
Both sisters have memories of the war between Russia and Finland.
– We know everything about the previous war. Our father participated in the war for five years. Maybe that’s why we do not worry so much now, says Tuula.
– We have been through it before, she says.
– Several countries have provided security guarantees during the waiting period? Does it make you safer?
– Yes, better. It is not 100 percent security, but I think we will get help if something happens. We’ll see what comes. I myself do not think he comes here, in which case he is completely crazy, says Tuula Koski.
Have been waiting for 30 years
In mid-May, before Sweden and Finland’s NATO applications, Russia threatened political consequences if the countries were to join the alliance.
On May 14, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, said there would be an “appropriate” Russian response if NATO moved nuclear weapons closer to Russia, according to the NTB.
– I feel safe, no problem, says Christer Eklund.
The seas: Finland will not proceed with the NATO application alone
The online newspaper meets him at the harbor in the center of the Finnish capital.
– I do not know why, I think Erdogan is a good friend of Putin. So they have to make a fuss about the membership, I do not like it, he says.
He is also upset that Putin is in power.
– I think ordinary Russians, young people, I do not think they are as… how should I say this… as the Putin system, but I do not know why they can not do something about it in Russia.
– I do not understand why Putin has to go to war all the time, says Eklund, and speculates that the president wants the old Soviet territories back.
– But I do not like the situation, which the poor people of Ukraine have to go through.
A membership in the defense alliance will be well received, also by Eklund:
– I have been waiting for 30 years for Finland to become a member of NATO.
– But I think that sooner or later we will be, he says.
– A political window
Elina Moisio from the Greenlandic Party is a member of the Finnish Political Union.
– There is a political window open at this time, so I think it is the right time to join, Moisio says to Nettavisen.
– What do you think about Turkey now blocking the process?
– It is definitely more about Turkey’s relations with the United States and the desire to have the missile system. So I think it’s just a diplomatic round we have to do now, she says.
Moisio says that she has not yet felt insecure.
– I do not think the risk of a military threat from Russia is particularly high. It’s more about cyber security and hyper-threats.
– But of course it makes you think more about the future, she says.
video-description">Should the unthinkable happen, all residents and visitors to the capital of Finland can seek refuge here. Join in.
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