Finland could consider joining NATO without Sweden if Turkey continues to block their joint bid to enter the military alliance.
During a Tuesday morning television interview, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that both Nordic nations joining NATO together was "absolutely the number one option," but that "we have to be ready to evaluate the situation." "Has something happened that would in the long term prevent Sweden's application from progressing?" Haavisto asked.
The answer to his question would seem to be yes. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Sweden no longer had Turkey's support for its NATO application after a Danish extremist burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden over the weekend.
A few hours after his initial remarks, Haavisto spoke to journalists at a hastily-arranged press conference in parliament and clarified his comments, saying he had been "imprecise" and that Finland still wanted to join NATO together with the Swedes.