Bucharest and Warsaw are "
optimistic
" about Sweden and Finland joining NATO, despite Ankara's hostility, their foreign ministers in Istanbul said on Friday May 27.
To read also NATO: can Turkey definitively block the accession of Finland and Sweden?
The two ministers were speaking at a joint press conference with their Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Cavusoglu after their talks.
“
Unlike many, I am optimistic about this.
I am convinced that this disagreement will be resolved in the best possible way, in the spirit of NATO solidarity
,” said Polish Minister Zbigniew Rau.
An “essential” membership
“
The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO is essential to make us stronger.
(...) This accession must however be beneficial to all NATO allies, including Turkey
,” he added.
“
We support the constructive dialogue in place here.
We hope to have good news about Sweden and Finland soon
,” said Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.
A first meeting took place on Wednesday in Ankara between the Turkish authorities and Finnish and Swedish delegations.
Turkey accuses the two countries, particularly Sweden, of hosting Kurdish militants from the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which it considers a terrorist organization.
Read also"Vu d'Ailleurs" N°87 - What Sweden and Finland can bring to NATO
She also denounces the presence in this country of supporters of the preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom she suspects of having orchestrated the coup attempt of July 2016. “
Our request is completely legitimate and clear.
These countries support terrorism, they must put an end to this support and lift the restrictions on the sales of defense industries to our country
”, for his part repeated Mevlüt Cavusoglu.
