The President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, will travel to Turkey on Thursday to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss the country’s accession to NATO, among other issues.
The Finnish Presidential Office has confirmed this information, while sources consulted by the newspaper ‘Helsingin Sanomat’ suggest that Turkey is planning to finally ratify the country’s accession protocol before the presidential elections scheduled for May 14.
In this sense, these sources have established that there is a high probability that Erdogan –with whom Niinisto will meet on Friday–, will announce the news this very Thursday. If this information is confirmed, Finland’s accession protocol would be approved before that of Sweden, as had already been predicted.
However, it is not yet known when Hungary – the only other NATO member country that has not yet given its approval to the accession of Finland and Sweden – will ratify the protocol, although the Hungarian authorities have insisted that it will not take long.
In addition, Niinisto will visit the areas affected in the southeast of the country by the strong earthquakes of February 6, which have left more than 54,000 dead on Turkish territory and on the site. This visit will also include Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has indicated this week that Finland’s chances of joining the Alliance before Sweden have increased recently and has argued that the country will be safer if the neighboring country joins NATO.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
