Turkey’s leader opposes letting Finland, Sweden join NATO

By JARI TANNER and SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

HELSINKI (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is “not favorable” toward Finland and Sweden joining NATO. His statement on Friday indicates that Turkey could use its status as a member of the Western military alliance to veto moves to admit the two countries. The Turkish leader explained his opposition by alleging that Sweden and other Scandinavian countries support Kurdish militants and others whom Turkey considers to be terrorists. He also accused Greece of using the alliance against Turkey. Meanwhile. a report by the Swedish government on the changed security environment facing the Nordic country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine says Moscow would react negatively to Sweden joining NATO and launch several counter-measures.