Niinistö: Contacts with the United States have been close, NATO was under pressure to move Finland and Sweden forward

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1. According to Sauli Niinistö, Finland and Sweden were not eager to include the name of the Kurdish organization YPG in a joint document with Turkey. “We could agree to that because nothing changed.”

   WHAT was the role of the United States in the progress of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership? On Wednesday, news agencies said U.S. administration Joe Biden ‘s administration is supporting the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. So this is the day after Turkey agreed that Finland and Sweden could be invited to join NATO.

   According to the White House, Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a telephone conversation on Tuesday before talks between Finland, Sweden and Turkey.

   The President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö said at a press conference on Wednesday evening that he has no information about the talks between Biden and Erdoğan.

   Niinistö also said he has not made a request to the United States to talk to Erdoğan. However, he said there has been talk of a role for the United States.

   “Ultimately, yesterday’s situation may have been that the greatest pressure was on NATO, greater than on Finland and Sweden. So that the matter needs to get off the agenda. The United States is a key player in NATO, so they too have come under pressure. That’s why I’ve been debating whether the United States is going to be in touch or not. ”

   According to Niinistö, there has been very close contact between Finland and the United States throughout the spring, mainly between the presidential offices.

   “The opportunity opened up when I had a couple of phone conversations with President Joe Biden on both sides of the year. At that time, it was already agreed that the cabinets would be in close contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well,” Niinistö said.

   “In recent days, there has been exactly the same, perhaps a little closer contact than before.”

   NIINISTÖ WAS CALM ABOUT THE demands expressed on Wednesday that Turkey would demand that Finland and Sweden extradite people to Turkey. He thought that all extradition requests had already been resolved in Finland and that the Finnish government would not and would not do anything if the court’s decisions on the matters existed.

   According to Niinistö, the mention of the Kurdish organization YPG in the memorandum of understanding between Finland, Sweden and Turkey is worded so that Finland can continue its humanitarian aid.

   “We weren’t so keen to see those organizations like YPG mentioned in the document because there is a big difference between how other NATO countries see them and how Turkey sees them. Turkey calls them terrorists, ”Niinistö said.

   “Mentioning them in the document was one of Turkey’s main goals, and in the end we were able to agree to it because nothing changed in that regard. They are not treated as terrorist organizations in the document and are not named as Turkey would have liked. ”

   According to Niinistö, NATO was also constantly assured that the records were correct.

   FINLAND and Sweden were invited to NATO on Wednesday, and it was also announced that the accession protocol would be signed.

   “But of course it wasn’t signed in that situation. The current information, which can move yes, would be such that no later than next Tuesday, ”Niinistö said.

   In their new strategy, NATO countries define Russia as a direct threat.

   According to Niinistö, this is a “total change” compared to NATO’s previous strategy, in which Russia was considered a partner.

   “It says what has become quite obvious in the case of Ukraine years ago and especially since February. Russia is perceived as a threat because it is behaving in a threatening manner and has committed acts from which that threat can be inferred. ”

   According to the new strategy, NATO will strengthen its eastern edge, which, according to Niinistö, is a natural consequence of the Russian threat.

   “If there’s a threat, there’s value.”

   NIINISTÖ attended a summit session on Wednesday afternoon, which was attended by NATO member countries Finland, Sweden and Georgia, partners in the Asia-Pacific region, and the EU, in addition to NATO member states.

   Niinist also had bilateral meetings with, among others, French President Emmanuel Macron .

2. Can I ask how the political system between Sweden and Finland differ? I’ve seen the president of Finland get involved in the process while there was no one else but the PM and foreign minister from swedish side. I assume the King doesn’t have the political power to involve themselves at all?

3. So in short the US told Turkey to get their shit together and find an agreement or they are not getting their new fighter jets.
   And so NATO can move on to other important topics now that problem is solved.