Finland and Sweden should change their laws if needed to meet Turkey’s demands and win its backing for their bid to join NATO, the Turkish Foreign Minister said on Tuesday, doubling down on a threat to veto an historic enlargement of the alliance.
In a move that shocked its allies, Turkey on May 13 objected to Finland and Sweden joining NATO on the grounds that they harbour people linked to groups it deems terrorists, including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and because they halted arm exports to Turkey in 2019. The Nordic states applied to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All 30 NATO members must approve any enlargement plans.
Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey, a NATO member for seven decades, would not lift its veto unless its demands were met, echoing recent comments by President Tayyip Erdogan.
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Ankara has said Sweden and Finland must halt their support for the PKK and other groups and bar them from organising any events on their territory, among other demands.
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