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Jens Stoltenberg: "now is the time" to integrate Sweden and Finland into NATO

2023-02-16T10:30:01.134Z


On a visit to Ankara, the head of NATO called for the relaunch of the accession process for the two Nordic countries, despite the recent tensions with Turkey.


The head of NATO Jens Stoltenberg called this Thursday, February 16 in Ankara to integrate “

now

” Finland and Sweden, whose candidacies for the Atlantic Alliance have been blocked since May by Turkey.

"

I still think it's time now to ratify [the membership] of both Finland and Sweden

," Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. .

"As quickly as possible"

The Secretary General of NATO, who came to Turkey to show support for the Alliance after the devastating earthquake of February 6 which killed more than 36,000 people in the country, had for the first time last Tuesday publicly mentioned the hypothesis of an entry of Finland before Sweden in the Alliance.

However, he said he was seeking to obtain “

as soon as possible

” the last ratifications from Turkey and Hungary for the two countries.

Read alsoZelensky urges EU representatives to speed up Ukraine's accession

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested in early February that the Turkish Parliament could ratify Finland's membership without that, jointly filed, of Sweden, which remains blocked by Ankara.

It would not be realistic to say that Sweden has fully fulfilled its obligations arising from the memorandum of understanding

” signed in June between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reaffirmed on Thursday.

He repeated that Turkey was ready to “

assess Finland's NATO membership process separately from that of Sweden

”.

burnt quran

Turkey accuses Sweden, among other things, of harboring Kurdish militants and sympathizers whom it describes as “

terrorists

”, in particular those of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The leaders of the 30 member countries of NATO took the decision to invite Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance at a summit in Madrid in July 2022. Thirty countries signed the accession protocols and 28 the have ratified.

Only Turkey and Hungary have not yet had their agreement ratified.

The decision in January by the Swedish authorities to authorize a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, during which a Koran was burned, provoked the ire of Ankara which put a stop to the negotiations in notably postponing a tripartite meeting scheduled for February.

The member countries of NATO have offered forty containers and 20,000 tents to shelter the victims of the earthquake.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-16

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