As the transatlantic alliance welcomes Finland, Sweden's best chance seems to be to wait for the outcome of Turkey’s May 14 elections in a bid to smoothen the road to its NATO membership, despite the goodwill it has garnered in the Turkish public opinion for its support after the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes.
Following the Turkish parliament's unanimous ratification, the Nordic country this week officially announced as a NATO member in Washington. The move decoupled Finland's and Sweden’s NATO bids officially, a possibility that Ankara has long pushed while Washington and NATO were unwilling. While NATO talks between Turkey, Finland and Sweden were ongoing, a senior bureaucrat in Turkish national security circles told Al-Monitor that his government could fast-track Helsinki into the alliance.
