The flags of Finland, NATO and Sweden are seen during a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium on May 18, 2022. Finland and Sweden have formally applied to join NATO, but Turkey has threatened to block them from joining. Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said meetings this week with Finnish and Swedish delegations had not been at the expected level, noting there had been no steps taken to alleviate Turkeys security concerns. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he will not approve Sweden and Finland obtaining NATO membership, state news agency Anadolu reported #EuropeNews Erdogan had been insisting that NATO must take steps to address Ankaras legitimate concerns over the NATO bids of Finland and Sweden. Still, U.S. officials remain hopeful. Nato member Turkey has agreed to support Sweden and Finland's membership of the alliance. Turkey also reportedly demanded that Stockholm and Helsinki shut down the offices and ban the publications belonging to FETO, freeze the assets related to groups it has designated as terrorists, and even ban them from demonstrating in public. It warned to delay its membership for more than a The foreign affairs ministers of Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum on Tuesday in Madrid that addressed Turkeys concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism, for Turkey to drop its objections for the two longtime neutral Nordic countries to seek to join NATO. Erdogan has thrown a spanner in the works of Sweden and Finland's historic decisions to seek NATO membership, declaring that he cannot allow them to join due to their alleged support of Kurdish militants and other groups that Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO earlier this year after both deciding to break with their longtime traditions of neutrality to join the organization, claiming it was necessary due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine. By Shelby Holliday May 31, 2022 3:44 pm. Turkey's president wrote Finland and Sweden's entry into NATO would endanger his country and the "organisation's future". In that meeting, the leaders agreed a trilateral memorandum to address Trkiyes legitimate security concerns, paving the way for Turkey said it could back Sweden and Finland's NATO bids if they stop supporting terrorists and lift export bans. Finland and Sweden, while both Nato partners, have long viewed membership as an unnecessary provocation of Russia, their powerful eastern neighbour. A day earlier Turkey's president, Tayyip Erdogan, had shocked fellow NATO members by saying he could not support membership for either Finland or Sweden. However, Cavusoglu insisted that Turkeys security concerns must be met before Sweden and Finland can obtain NATO entry. HELSINKI (AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that his country is not favorable toward Finland and Sweden joining NATO, indicating Turkey could use its membership in the Western military alliance to veto moves to admit the two countries. It had initially opposed the Nordic countries' bids to join. Erdogan spoke to reporters just hours after Sweden joined Finland in announcing it would seek NATO membership in the wake of Russians invasion of Ukraine, ending more than 200 years of military nonalignment. President Recep Tayyip Erdoan of Trkiye, President Sauli Niinist of Finland and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden met in Madrid on Tuesday (28 June 2022) under the auspices of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. And NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday, I am confident that we will come to a quick decision to welcome both Sweden and Finland to join the NATO family.. His comments came after Turkeys top diplomat said Finland and Sweden would have to take concrete steps before Ankara could support their membership. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the world's most powerful military alliance reached a deal to admit Sweden and Finland after resolving the concerns of holdout Turkey. The leaders of Finland and Sweden are set to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday in a bid to convince him to drop the objections to their membership in NATO. World; Turkey Lays Out Demands as Finland, Sweden Plan NATO Entry Stockholm says senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey will meet in Ankara to discuss the matter ISTANBUL (AP) Turkeys president has told journalists he still intends to block Finland and Swedens accession to NATO. Turkey's Erdogan has doubled down on his opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the NATO alliance, in a move some analysts say is aimed at gaining concessions. Biden said he began the private discussions that led to the two Scandinavian leaders momentous decision to join NATO back in December, even as Russian NATO leades say Turkey has dropped its objection to Finland and Sweden being invited into the alliance one of the most significant reactions by the West so far to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And as a member of NATO, Turkeys approval is needed for Finland and Sweden to join. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Sweden and Finland to end support to 'terror' groups, with his threat throwing a major potential obstacle in the way of NATO membership for both the countries. There is an international push to resolve Turkey's objections. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for a ceremony at the presidential palace, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, May 16, 2022. Sweden and Finland officially applied to join NATO, but Turkey's president may oppose their acceptance into the military alliance. All 30 current NATO countries must agree to open the door to new members. We are following developments concerning Sweden and Finland, but we are not of a favorable Finland and Sweden imposed an arms embargo against Turkey in 2019, over Ankaras intervention in Syria. The United States fully supports Finland and Sweden joining the alliance and I continue to be confident that both will soon be NATO members, Blinken said. The flags of Finland, NATO and Sweden are seen during a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium on May 18, 2022. NATO chief says talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland were constructive, but Turkey says still work to be done. When NATO alliance members meet in Madrid this week, one of the featured agenda items is Finland and Swedens request to officially join the alliance. Amid the row over Sweden and Finland joining the NATO military alliance, Turkey, which has been opposing the membership bid of both nordic nations, has once again warned the Nordic nations to resolve all the grievances of Ankara before the most awaited NATO Summit which is due to start in Madrid on June 29.