While Finland and Sweden will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss their delayed NATO bids with Turkey, experts say the chances of a resolution before the alliance gathering next week are dwindling.
Officials from the three nations were scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the Nordic countries’ membership applications, which have been stalled by Ankara.
‘I think it is possible but it would be very difficult,’ Paul Levin, director of the Institute for Turkey Studies at Stockholm University, told AFP, adding it would require both parties to compromise.
NATO and the two Nordic countries had expected the application process to be quick. But Ankara’s objections caught them all off-guard, at a time when NATO is keen to display a unified front against Russia.
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Ankara has accused Finland and Sweden of providing a safe haven for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a “terrorist” group by Turkey and its Western allies.
Ankara has also demanded they lift their weapons freezes on Turkey.
Any NATO membership deal must be unanimously approved by all 30 members of the alliance, and fears are now mounting that Turkey could delay the Nordic countries’ bids indefinitely.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin recently expressed fears that unless the issues are resolved “before Madrid, there is a risk that the situation will freeze”.
Germany on Monday dampened hopes of a deal being reached that quickly.
‘I think this is about expectations management and to place this in its historical context,” said a high-ranking German government source, while stressing a solution was still in sight.
‘It would not be a catastrophe if we need a few more weeks,” the source said. “What is crucial is that in our view there are no insurmountable difficulties’ between Sweden, Finland and Turkey.
