Finland President Sauli Niiniste says it won't join NATO this year

HELSINKI: Finnish President Sauli Niiniste says the country will not join NATO until September 2022

Finland will not be able to join NATO until September 2022 due to the lack of progress with Turkish representatives. This was announced on Tuesday by President Sauli Niiniste during a joint press conference with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola.

“In essence, there was not much progress at the meeting, but we are already pleased that the discussion has begun. It is unlikely that we will be able to do this before September,” said Niiniste, whose words are quoted by Tass.

In addition, the Finnish President added that the start of bilateral contacts with the Turkish delegation is already progress.

Earlier, the director of the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute, Hussein Bagci, said that the country's government would not agree to the entry of Sweden and Finland into the North Atlantic Alliance at the bloc's summit in Madrid, which will be held at the end of June.

Recall that Finland and Sweden decided to abandon neutrality and join NATO. In mid-May, they sent applications to join the alliance.

But for the admission of Stockholm and Helsinki to NATO, the consent of all member countries of the alliance is required, but Turkey opposed it. The reason for the refusal was that both Stockholm and Helsinki support the PKK, banned in Turkey. Moreover, the Kurds are there in the positions of officials at various levels.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Sweden and Finland will be closed to NATO until Ankara's demands are met.