Henri Vanhanen wrote that the Ilta-Sanomat news about Jaakko Laakso's communication with the Turkish foreign minister reminded him of his trip to Ankara with Mika Aaltola in February 2023. Vanhanen said they had discussed at that time the obstacles and opportunities regarding Finland's NATO membership ratification. Vanhanen stated that based on their assessments from the discussions, Turkey was clearly more positive towards Finland's membership than Sweden's, and that a separate pathway could be opened for Finland. They had made their assessment public and raised the possibility that Finland could advance if necessary before Sweden. According to Vanhanen, the assessment turned out to be correct. He noted that at that time they were not aware that Laakso had already met with the Turkish foreign minister the previous spring and expressed his opposition to Finland's NATO membership. Vanhanen wrote that Laakso's actions raised serious questions: in his view, opposing NATO membership was the right of every Finn, but conveying anti-membership views directly to the Turkish foreign minister was a different matter. Vanhanen believed that the events related to Finland's NATO membership deserved clarification, especially when they raised difficult questions about Finnish actions. https://t.co/XGptAqzYmF #Suomi #Nato #Turkki (translated)
