The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland are scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss their stalled NATO process after the recent tensions between Stockholm and Ankara, which made Helsinki consider entering the bloc separately.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is the first head of government to be received by her Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson since he took office last autumn.
After their discussions, a joint news conference with Marin and Kristersson is planned for the afternoon.
Tensions escalated between Sweden and Türkiye after a range of anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam provocations in the country.
In one of the acts that took place in Sweden, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's effigy was hanged on a lamppost outside Stockholm’s City Hall. In another incident, a far-right activist burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy.
Türkiye postponed the next tripartite meeting slated for February in Brussels with Sweden and Finland on their NATO bids while also canceling a parliamentary and defense minister visit by Stockholm to Ankara. The protests in Sweden also led to a wave of anti-Swedish protests in other Muslim countries.
Following the incidents, Erdoğan said on Wednesday that Türkiye looks positively on Finland's application for NATO membership but does not support Sweden's bid.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said it was NATO and the two Nordic countries who would decide on any separate ratifications.
Finland last week said for the first time that it had to consider joining NATO without Sweden.
"We have to assess the situation, whether something has happened that in the longer term would prevent Sweden from going ahead," Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told broadcaster Yle.
He added that it was "too early to take a position on that now" and that a joint application remained the "first option."
Helsinki had refused to speculate until now on the option of joining without Sweden, emphasizing the benefits of joint membership with its close neighbor.
Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned decades of non-alignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required.
Ankara has previously said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but rather criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements that are posing a security threat to Ankara.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance. But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary to gain NATO membership.
Ankara has long criticized Stockholm for housing members of various terrorist organizations, particularly members of the PKK and, in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) – the organization behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.
Ahead of a historic NATO summit, the three countries signed a trilateral deal in June that prevented a Turkish veto. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for terrorists. In addition, the joint directive states that Finland and Sweden “will not provide support to ... the organization described as FETÖ” and terrorist groups.
