Finnish parliamentary groups are expected to discuss on Friday when to ratify NATO's founding treaties, in a move that could lead the country to proceed with membership ahead of neighbouring Sweden, amid growing support among the Finnish public to go it alone, APA reports citing Reuters.
The two Nordic countries sought NATO membership shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, and while most member-states have ratified the applications, Turkiye has yet to give its approval.
"Our position on Finland is positive, but it is not positive on Sweden," President Tayyip Erdogan said last week.
Turkey's differing view on Finnish and Swedish memberships is putting pressure on Finnish leaders to push ahead. A 53% majority of Finns polled on Feb. 2 for daily Ilta-Sanomat said they did not want Finland to wait for Sweden. Some 28% said it should.
On Friday, parliamentary groups in Finland will decide whether parliament should ratify NATO's founding treaties before it goes into recess on March 3, before a parliamentary election on April 2.
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