Sweden may still become a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) before or at the alliance's next summit, scheduled for the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on 11-12 July, according to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green).
However, Haavisto noted that Sweden's accession could be further delayed if Turkey does not ratify its membership application before the Vilnius meeting in July.
"We may lose the momentum built up at the Vilnius summit. Everyone is working to ensure that maximum pressure is applied at that moment to get Sweden to join Nato," Haavisto told Yle.
Finland's foreign minister was a keynote speaker this week at the 'Road to Vilnius' seminar in Stockholm, which was hosted by the Atlantic Council, Germany, Lithuania and Portugal.
The event focused on Euro-Atlantic security as well as Finnish and Swedish Nato membership. Other speakers included Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis.
At a press conference after the seminar, Haavisto said that Sweden had done everything in its power to meet Turkey's conditions for ratifying the Swedish membership bid, noting that new terrorism legislation will enter into force on 1 July.
Nato's member states have also done their utmost to promote Sweden's accession, Haavisto added. Finland's own very first act as a Nato member was to ratify Sweden's application.
Much will depend on the outcome of Turkey's presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, where incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a tight race against opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
"We do not yet know whether there will be turbulence or slowdowns in the internal situation in Turkey after the elections," Haavisto said, adding that he hopes a solution can be found to the ratification delay before the Vilnius summit.
Russia and the Arctic Council
Haavisto also commented on the future of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum comprising the Nordic nations, the United States, Canada and Russia.
The presidency of the council passed from Russia to Norway on Thursday.
The council's activities have been effectively frozen since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but Haavisto noted that it still has an important role to play in environmental and climate issues as well as in the protection of indigenous peoples in the Arctic region.
"If the Arctic countries were unable to cooperate in the future, it would create a wild situation in the Arctic where the potential for countries outside the region to act, perhaps without regard to environmental issues, would increase," Haavisto said.
Question of development aid
The issue of development aid has been raised during ongoing efforts to form Finland's next government, with the Finns Party in particular arguing that the support provided by Finland to developing countries should be substantially cut.
Finns Party leader Riikka Purra has however suggested that some of this aid could be redirected to Ukraine.
Haavisto said he believes it is essential that Finland continue to support Ukraine, and even increase the level of aid provided to the war-torn country. He also commented on whether Finland should end development cooperation with countries that have failed to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine.
Haavisto noted that development aid is often given directly to those in need, through the UN or other international aid organisations, bypassing the governments of the countries concerned.
"Then you can always ask whether the sanctions are right if they target the poorest people in the world, who may be people working against these governments," he said.
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