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Finland may have to rethink whether to move with Sweden towards NATO membership after fresh objections to Stockholm from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This was stated by the Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, quoted by "Bloomberg".

The "main option" is still for both countries to join the Alliance at the same time, given the security concerns of both Finland and Sweden, he noted in an interview with YLE.

We need to assess the situation and see if something has happened that could block Sweden's access to the Alliance in the long term, Haavisto said.

However, according to him, it is too early to make a decision now.

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It is the first time a Finnish politician has hinted at a possible separation of the two bids since the Scandinavian countries formally applied for NATO membership in May.

Although Turkey initially opposed their entry into the alliance, it later allowed the process to go ahead at the NATO summit in June.

Ankara later said it was "satisfied" with Finland's cooperation, but continued to press Sweden to take more serious measures against groups banned in Turkey.

Erdogan yesterday ruled out supporting Sweden's bid after a far-right activist burned Islam's holy book, the Koran, in Stockholm over the weekend.

Turkey and Hungary are the only two of NATO's 30 member states that have not yet ratified the requests of Sweden and Finland.

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