Finland could join NATO before Sweden

MUNICH, Feb 19 (AP): Finland's defense minister said Saturday that his country will join NATO without waiting for Sweden if its Nordic neighbor's accession is held up by the Turkish government.

Mikko Savola told The Associated Press on Saturday that Finland would prefer that that the two countries join the alliance together, but it wouldn't hold up the process if Turkey decides to approve Finland, but not Sweden, as it has warned.

"No, no. Then we will join," Savola said in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich.

Since they broke with decades of non-alignment in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland and Sweden have insisted they want to join NATO together. But Turkey's reluctance to accept Sweden unless it steps up pressure on Kurdish exile groups has made it more likely the two will have to join the alliance at different speeds.