Sweden, Finland push ahead with NATO bids as Turkey objects

By KARL RITTER
Associated Press

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden and Finland have pushed ahead with their bids to join NATO even as Turkey insists it won’t let the previously nonaligned Nordic countries into the alliance because of their alleged support for Kurdish militants. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strongly worded objections caught the two applicants and other NATO members off guard, complicating what was envisioned to be a swift expansion of the alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Finnish parliament on Tuesday rubber-stamped the government’s decision to seek membership in an 188-8 vote, while Sweden’s foreign minister signed a formal application letter to be handed over to the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.