BRUSSELS, Jun 27, 2022 (AFP) – The leaders of Finland and Sweden will discuss with their Turkish counterparts a veto on Ankara’s NATO membership at the start of the military alliance summit in Madrid on Tuesday, official sources said.
The high-level talks are expected to be accompanied by Norwegian NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, although the Turkish government says the meeting does not necessarily mean an agreement is imminent.
Ibrahim Kalin, top foreign policy adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Turkish media that Tuesday’s meeting did not mean an agreement was close.
“Participating in this summit does not mean that we will step back from our position. We are negotiating. There are many stages,” he said.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson met with Stoltenberg in Brussels this Monday (27), and at the end of the meeting, she expressed “hope” for a convergence of positions before the military alliance summit begins. in Madrid.
“My greatest hope is that this dialogue can be concluded successfully in the near future, ideally before the summit,” said the Swedish prime minister. said.
A progress in these talks “will allow Sweden and Finland to start their accession process immediately” [à Otan] And such an outcome would be good news for both.”
On Monday morning, Stoltenberg said the start of the transatlantic military alliance summit in Madrid is not a firm deadline for the parties to reach an agreement.
“Dome [de Madri] There was never a deadline. […] All NATO leaders are there, as are the leaders of Sweden and Finland. So this gives us an opportunity we can’t miss to see how much progress we can make.”
“The only thing I can promise you is that we are working as hard as we can to find a solution as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said.
Turkey’s final veto
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said in Helsinki today that intense talks showed that “things are a little better than a week ago, but I will not speculate on any deal”.
On May 18, the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland formally conveyed their countries’ requests for NATO membership to Stoltenberg in a context marked by Russian military actions in Ukraine.
However, Turkey quickly threw a bucket of cold water at enthusiasm by announcing that it vetoed the NATO membership of the two countries. Any entry into the Alliance must receive the consent of all countries.
The Turkish government accuses Sweden and Finland of harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization considered “terrorist” by Ankara.
He also denounced that Turkey, Sweden and Finland accepted an arms embargo against the Ankara government for its role in the military conflict in Syria.
Andersson said in Brussels on Monday that Sweden “is not and will not be a haven for terrorists”.
source: Noticias
[author_name]
