The Demo And Burns Of The Al-Qur'an Makes President Erdogan Berag, Finland Consider NATO Join Without Sweden

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. (Wikimedia Commons/FinnishGovernment)

JAKARTA - Finland should consider joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) without Sweden, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Haavisto conveyed this after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not support Sweden's candidacy after an Al-Qur'an was burned outside its embassy in Stockholm.

"We have to assess the situation, whether something has happened that in the long term will delay the Swedish application," said Foreign Minister Haavisto, launching The National News January 24.

"It's too early to take a position now" and entering together with NATO remains the "first option."

Sweden and Finland signed up to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. Their membership needs to be supported by all members, including Turkey.

However, Turkey has not given its approval, as concerns about how Sweden and Finland treat Kurdish groups and people Ankara sees as terrorists.

Most recently, Turkey expressed anger after far-right figure Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Al-Qur'an outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on the weekend.

"Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy can no longer expect our support for their NATO membership," President Erdogan stressed.

The incident sparked counter demonstrations around the world, including in Turkey and Iraq. Meanwhile, the Swedish government condemned the action, but said it was freedom of expression.

Foreign Minister Haavisto said the protesters "clearly intended to provoke Turkey". He said he expected no progress until the Turkish elections in May.

"We are on a very dangerous path, as the protests clearly delay Turkey's will and ability to resolve this issue through parliament," he said.

Even before the Al-Qur'an burning incident, Turkey had signaled both publicly and privately, its concerns were mainly aimed at Sweden.

However, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said recently, the two countries should join at the same time.

NATO has 30 member states. Except for Turkey and Hungary, other NATO members have approved the joining of Sweden and Finland. Hungary said it supported them, but had not yet held a vote in parliament.