News
The article is more than 2 years old

Haavisto: Talk of leaving Sweden behind to join Nato is "speculative"

Finland's Foreign Minister met his Swedish counterpart in Helsinki on Tuesday.

Billström ja Haavisto.
Pekka Haavisto (right) and Tobias Billström at the Hanasaari conference centre in Espoo on 7 February 2023. Image: Silja Viitala / Yle
  • Yle News

Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) met his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström in Helsinki on Tuesday, before they both attended the Hanalys security policy forum at Hanasaari, Espoo.

At the press conference afterwards, both ministers were quizzed about Turkey's recent moves to offer a different response to Finland on Nato membership than to Sweden, with Finland's bid to join Nato viewed much more positively in Ankara.

Haavisto said that Finland still wants to join Nato alongside Sweden before the Nato summit in Vilnius this July. Any other option is speculative.

"We haven't yet seen the ratification process," Haavisto said.

Billström noted that his own role was not to comment on Finland's decisions, and that Turkey's ratification process was its own business.

He also emphasised that Finland and Sweden want to remain strong allies after ratification, within Nato structures.

Listen to the All Points North team discuss Finland's prospects of joining Nato without Sweden.

Finland’s Nato dilemma

Haavisto was also asked about Leopard 2 tanks, which Ukraine has requested from several European countries including Germany and Poland.

He said that Germany and Poland were discussing a package including tanks and training to use them, and that Finland wanted to be part of those conversations.

He added that Ukraine is likely to require further shipments of military aid in future.

Would you like a roundup of the week's top stories in your inbox every Thursday? Then sign up to receive our weekly email.