Rapprochement in the NATO dispute with Turkey?

According to Stoltenberg, Sweden is taking “two important steps”

Created: 06/14/2022, 04:46

By: Andreas Schmid

Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, welcomes Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, at the country residence of the Swedish Prime Minister.

© dpa/TT News Agency/AP |

Henrik Montgomery/Tt

The dispute over NATO's northern expansion continues.

Turkey is blocking Sweden's and Finland's accession plans.

A quick agreement does not seem to be in sight.

News ticker.

• Sweden and Finland want to join NATO in the Ukraine conflict

  .

• Turkey blocked

  : veto by Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues.

• Stoltenberg in Sweden:

  According to the NATO Secretary General, the country is taking “two important steps”

• This

  news ticker on the planned northern expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland

  is constantly being updated.

Update from June 13, 10:45 p.m .:

Because Finland wants to join NATO, Russia is threatening its neighbors militarily.

A small group of islands in the Baltic Sea is considered a possible gateway for a possible Russian attack.

The background.

Sweden and Finland in NATO?

Apparently there is movement

Update from June 13, 9:15 p.m .:

According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, there is movement in the dispute over the admission of Sweden and Finland to NATO.

As Stoltenberg said on Monday during a visit to Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, the Scandinavian country meets Turkey's objections on two counts: it welcomes the fact that Sweden has already started to change its anti-terror legislation and that the country will ensure that the legal framework for arms exports reflects its future status as a NATO member with new commitments to allies.

"These are two important steps to address the concerns raised by Turkey," Stoltenberg said.

Andersson assured that the Swedish anti-terror laws have been changed in recent years and will continue to be changed.

"We take Turkey's concerns very seriously, and not least their security concerns in the fight against terrorism," she said at Stoltenberg's side.

First report from June 13:

Helsinki - The NATO summit will take place in Madrid from June 29 to 30.

The date of the military alliance was also overshadowed two weeks earlier by the dispute over the accession of Sweden and Finland and Turkey's blockade.

According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a quick agreement is not in sight.

"I want this problem to be solved as soon as possible," Stoltenberg said on Sunday in Finland after a meeting with President Sauli Niinistö.

However, this will probably not happen before the NATO summit.

NATO expansion to include Sweden and Finland: Stoltenberg slows down

In doing so, the Secretary General, himself a Norwegian, is dampening hopes that Finland and Sweden will join soon.

After the accession plans of the two northern European countries became known, Stoltenberg said that NATO welcomed them "with open arms".

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After the start of the Ukraine war, the Scandinavians announced their intention to join NATO.

Before that, they had understood each other as neutral for decades.

Accession actually only seemed a formality - but then Turkey intervened around President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

NATO: These countries are members

NATO dispute over Turkey: Stoltenberg understands Turkey's concerns

Turkey is the only NATO member blocking the accession process.

Ankara accuses Finland and Sweden of supporting "terrorism".

They would provide shelter to the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and its allies YPG from northern Syria.

According to Stoltenberg, he understands these concerns.

"So when an important key ally like Turkey raises concerns about terrorism, then of course we have to sit down and take it seriously.

And that's exactly what we're doing.” Finland and Sweden are ready for that.

However, this has delayed the NATO accession of the two Northern Lights.