Finland Confirms It Will Apply To Join Nato To 'Maximise' Country's Security

[naomi24]

//Finland has confirmed it will apply to join NATO despite Russia's president warning it would be a "mistake" to do so...A formal membership application is expected to be submitted to NATO headquarters in Brussels next week... Yesterday, Mr Niinisto told Vladimir Putin about his intentions, sparking a warning from the Russian president that abandoning neutrality would be a "mistake".//

https://news.sky.com/story/finland-confirms-it-is-applying-to-join-nato-to-maximise-countrys-security-12613613

Will Sweden follow suit .... and will Russia retaliate?

[ichkeria]

I don't think that's a realistic argument jno: why should longevity of membership be relevant?
Turkey has issues with recognition of the Kurdish separatists, but I would be amazed if that issue ultimately stymied the process.

[jno]

I just thought it was cheeky to say Turkey need to decide which side they're on. They decided that before most of us were born. (So did Sweden and Finland, but in their case the decision was to stay away.) Once in, their vote is as valid as anyone else's.

As for the Kurds - I wonder if 1970s Britain would have approved membership for any country that had consistently voiced support for the IRA?

[jno]

//The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he will not approve Finland and Sweden joining Nato.

Reuters is reporting he has said Swedish and Finnish delegrations should not bother coming to Turkey to convince Turkey to approve their Nato bids. //

No link yet

[ichkeria]

He will come round ...
Erdogan is a posturer.
Why would they go to Turkey anyway?
Why even Putin now says he doesn't mind if they join :-)

[tomus42]

Times change. 70 years ago alot of things were different about the world.

We need to deal with what's happening and relevent now.