Erdogan Threatens To Freeze Fin/Swe NATO Bids Ahead Of Putin/Raisi Meeting

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has today threatened to freeze the NATO bids of Finland and Sweden if they fail to follow through on counter-terrorisms pledges.

• Erdogan said in a televised address: “I would like to remind once again that if these countries do not take the necessary steps to fulfill our conditions, we will freeze the [accession] process. Our stance on this issue is very clear. The rest is up to them.”
• The Nordic NATO bids are awaiting ratification from all 30 NATO members and Ankara retains the ability to wield a veto despite signing an accord with Sweden and Finland at the NATO summit in Madrid last month.
• The move comes ahead of a highly anticipated trilateral meeting between Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi focused on the Syrian war. The trilat is significant for marking the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and a NATO leader since the war in Ukraine began.
• Russian analyst Vladimir Sotnikov told AFP: "The timing of this summit is not a coincidence," ."Turkey wants to conduct a 'special operation' in Syria just as Russia is implementing a 'special operation' in Ukraine."
• Both Raisi and Putin have criticised Erdogan's military incursions into northern Syria as "destabilising." Erdogan is expected to use the meeting to request a green light for expanding Turkish operations.