Finland, Sweden committed to joining NATO together, PMs say

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (L) speaks at a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 2, 2023. Finland remains determined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together with Sweden, visiting Prime Minister Sanna Marin said when she met her Swedish counterpart here on Thursday. (Ninni Andersson/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)

STOCKHOLM, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Finland remains determined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together with Sweden, visiting Prime Minister Sanna Marin said when she met her Swedish counterpart here on Thursday.

They also discussed Sweden's current Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) and the security situation.

"Last spring, we started our common path to join NATO. This journey must be made hand in hand and in common accord, just like we started it," Marin said in a joint press conference with Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Marin's remark came three days after Trkiye's foreign minister said that his country could evaluate Finland's NATO bid separately from Sweden's to distinguish "between a problematic country and a less problematic one."

The issue became no less topical after Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reported on the result of a poll showing that the majority of Finns were ready to join NATO without Sweden, Swedish Television (SVT) reported on Thursday.

Asked by a reporter about the result of the poll, Marin reiterated that Finland intends to join NATO together with Sweden.

"I think it is very important that we today send a very clear message: Finland and Sweden applied together, and it is in everybody's interest that we join NATO together," Marin said.

At a press conference in Ankara on Monday, Jan. 30, Trkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that although the two Nordic countries had requested to join NATO together, Finland had taken some steps, while there were "provocations" in Sweden.

Among other things, Trkiye has objected to a demonstration in Stockholm, where a copy of the Quran was burnt outside the Turkish Embassy.

Trkiye has also postponed a trilateral meeting with Sweden and Finland on their NATO bids.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 2, 2023. Finland remains determined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together with Sweden, visiting Prime Minister Sanna Marin said when she met her Swedish counterpart here on Thursday. (Ninni Andersson/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin speaks at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 2, 2023. Finland remains determined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together with Sweden, visiting Prime Minister Sanna Marin said when she met her Swedish counterpart here on Thursday. (Ninni Andersson/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (R) speaks at a press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 2, 2023. Finland remains determined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together with Sweden, visiting Prime Minister Sanna Marin said when she met her Swedish counterpart here on Thursday. (Ninni Andersson/Government Offices of Sweden/Handout via Xinhua)