Finnish president says he was 'astonished' that Turkey's President Erdogan suggested he might block
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said on Sunday that he was "astonished" that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested he might block Finland from joining NATO after Erdogan privately told him he would be fine with Finland joining the alliance.
"First, why I was astonished, because I had a telephone discussion with the president, Erdogan. That is about one month ago," Niinistö told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "And then he said that they will estimate, well, positively our aim to apply for membership. And now it changed."
Finland signaled on Sunday that it would move to join NATO, a historic reversal of the Nordic nation's decades of neutrality. Sweden could soon join its neighbor in pursuing NATO accession in the coming days.
On Friday, Erdogan said Turkey did not hold "positive views" about either Finland or Sweden joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Turkey's potential opposition is of paramount importance since it and NATO's other 29 members must unanimously accept any new applications.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/finnish-president-says-he-was-astonished-that-turkeys-president-erdogan-suggested-he-might-block-finlands-nato-application/ar-AAXj06z
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