Sweden and Finland are prepared to join the NATO alliance: the U.S.

After Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Sweden shouldn’t expect Turkey to support its membership following a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend that saw the burning of a copy of the Koran, the U.S. State Department declared on Monday that Finland and Sweden are prepared to join the NATO alliance.

Ned Price, a spokesperson for the State Department, told reporters that burning books that many people revere is highly disrespectful and that “something can be legal but awful.”