Turkey acknowledges ‘progress’ from Sweden and Finland
Istanbul noted that there was “progress” on the part of Sweden and Finland in the membership program of the two northern European countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
NATO flag.
AFP
Turkey said Sweden and Finland had made “progress” towards the Nordic countries joining NATO, according to a joint statement after Friday’s meeting in Stockholm. In a press release, the three signatories on the sidelines of the Madrid summit in June “welcomed the intensity of cooperation (…) and the progress made by Finland and Sweden in respecting the memorandum”.
“Sweden mostly respects the Tripartite Memorandum and moves towards NATO,” Sweden’s head of membership negotiations, Oskar Stenström, tweeted after a meeting announced earlier this month by the Turkish president. Tayyip Erdogan. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden submitted a joint bid to join the transatlantic alliance in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment.
It requires unanimous acceptance by NATO’s 30 member states, and has been ratified by all but Turkey and Hungary. Ankara specifically accused the two countries, primarily Sweden, of acting as a haven for militants close to the PKK but also for the People’s Protection Units (YPG) operating in Syria.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson, who visited Ankara in early November, promised to respond to concerns expressed by Turkey in its fight against terrorism. In mid-November, Sweden’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment allowing Sweden to toughen its fight against terrorism, which will take effect in January.
AFP
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