A closer relationship between Turkey and Russia will have little effect on Finland’s NATO membership process, President Sauli Niinistö told MTV News in a television interview on Friday.
Turkey’s ties with Russia are stronger than with other NATO countries, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin meet in Iran in July.
Despite this, Niinistö does not see the relationship between Russia and Turkey as straightforward.
"Remember that there may not only be smiling faces in the background, but also many kinds of conflicts," Niinistö p.
The Finnish president said during the spring "we kept our feelings out" of possible common interests between Turkey and Russia.
"And no one has noticed anything. And I can say that there are many sharp eyes in the world," Niinistö pointed out.
Document with Turkey “essential”
Finland’s NATO application has been ratified surprisingly quickly in the other member countries, Niinistö said and also stated that more positive news may be coming during the summer.
However, it is possible that Turkey will be the last country to ratify both Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to join the military alliance.
In Madrid, Finland, Sweden and Turkey held hours-long negotiations before the NATO summit in June.
The negotiations resulted in a memorandum of understanding between the three countries, which Niinistö described "necessary" Finland’s NATO process.
From the beginning, Turkey seemed to interpret the document in its own way. Turkish President Erdoğan called on the two Nordic countries to keep their promises and talked, among other things, about the 73 people who are awaiting extradition from Sweden.
According to Niinistö, no new extradition requests had come to Finland by last week. "Cases that have already been resolved cannot be intervened again," he added.
Niinistö told MTV that the friction between Finland and Turkey may not be over yet.
Turkey’s initial opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO was clearly aimed at raising awareness of Turkey’s terrorism problem, Niinistö said, adding that the Nordic neighbors are now "in a bind" despite Turkey’s intention to convey its message to the entire NATO community.
Niinistö emphasized that it is important to take terrorism seriously and condemn it everywhere.
Official cooperation with Russia is important
According to the president, Finland’s relations with Russia should focus on day-to-day matters, such as border security, traffic safety and smooth cooperation between the countries’ authorities.
There have been fewer contacts at the highest management level. Niinistö reminded that the last phone call with Putin was "surprising", because the Russian president seemed very calm about the possibility of Finland joining NATO. He added that according to Russia, the future procedures will be determined by how many weapons or NATO troops will be near the border between Finland and Russia.
"As far as I understand, there is no great need for Finland or NATO to start occupying, building new garrisons or weapons centers near the eastern border." Niinistö said.