Erdogan's white smoke: Finland one step away from NATO

The green light from Turkey for the approval of Finland's application for NATO membership seems almost done. And this regardless of what the Turkish government decides with Sweden, another country eager to end up under the umbrella of the Atlantic Alliance with which, however, Ankara has had bitter diplomatic tensions in recent months. This is the scenario painted by the Turkish media, for which the white smoke for Helsinki would be one step away. According to reports by the Anadolu news agency, Turkey plans to approve Finland's accession to NATO, independently of that of Sweden, before the Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections to be held on May 14th. We recall that Stockholm had applied to join the Western military alliance at the same time as its Nordic neighbor, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine on February 24th. Meanwhile, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will go on an official visit to Turkey in the next few hours. A meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled for Friday in Istanbul in which Helsinki's entry into the Atlantic Alliance will be discussed. Sweden. Indeed, Turkey has repeatedly said that the Swedish government must take further measures against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of the network that Ankara holds responsible for the 2016 coup attempt. Ankara regards both groups as terrorist organizations.