Russia may have played a role in burning Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan’s Koran just over a week ago, says the Finnish foreign minister. Far-right Paludan had previously received permission from the Swedish government for anti-Turkish protest, to Turkey’s anger.
The burning of the Koran makes it difficult for Sweden to join NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week that Sweden cannot count on Turkey’s support to gain NATO membership for the time being. A consultation with Sweden and Finland on NATO membership, scheduled for February, has also been postponed.
“Paludan’s possible ties to Russia have been investigated and some links have been found in his environment,” Haavisto said. He raises the question of whether a third party, for example Russia or another party opposed to NATO membership, is trying to incite and provoke. This is unforgivable.’
Russia’s foreign ministry has not yet responded to Haavisto’s comments.
BORN
Sweden and Finland have applied to join NATO because of the war in Ukraine. The military alliance is made up of thirty countries and these must unanimously agree to the entry of new members. Turkey has been blocking the accession of the two countries to NATO for months. Ankara is conditional on the two countries extraditing up to 130 people whom Turkey considers Kurdish terrorists or involved in the 2016 coup attempt.
Finland wants to complete the accession procedure together with Sweden, but is only considering doing so at a later stage if things really get out of hand.
Source: BNR
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