Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that negotiations on the country's accession to NATO with Turkey could take several weeks.
The problems between the countries will be resolved and «the goal will be reached,» he said, but does not promise rapid progress in the negotiations, according to Yle.
He indicated that the deadline is NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June, and by then the Alliance is expected to clarify the situation as well.
“I are optimistic that the problems will be resolved, but it may take some time,” said Haavisto.
Turkey’s list of demands is reported to include the extradition of people classified by the Kurdish PKK as terrorists, and loosening the arms embargo.
Haavisto conceded that Finland could assure Turkey, for example, that it would also be more closely monitoring terrorist ties to PKK.
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According to him, Helsinki cannot extradite PKK members or people allegedly associated with this organization to Ankara without justice.
On May 18, Finland and Sweden submitted applications for NATO membership, signed the day before by their foreign ministers .
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the country cannot support the plans of Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance. According to media reports, Turkey requires Sweden and Finland to publicly condemn the Kurdistan Workers' Party, recognize it and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as terrorist organizations, and stop the activities of PKK supporters, which, according to Ankara, operate in these countries.
Prior to this, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured that countries would be accepted into NATO «with open arms» after they applied.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin threatens «retaliatory measures» against the appearance of military infrastructure North Atlantic Alliance in Finland and Sweden. During a conversation with Niiniste on May 14, Putin called the country's refusal of neutrality «erroneous.»