Turkey’s talks with Sweden, Finland made little progress on NATO’s concerns, say sources close to the talks
ANKARA, 27 May (Reuters) – Talks between Turkish officials and delegations from Sweden and Finland this week in Turkey made little progress in overcoming Ankara’s objections to the Nordic countries joining NATO, and it is not yet clear when Further discussions will take place, according to two sources.
“It is not an easy process,” a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Friday. “They have to take concrete steps that will be difficult. Further negotiations will continue. But a date does not seem very close.”
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO last week to increase their security ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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All 30 NATO members must approve enlargement plans. But Turkey questioned the measure, saying that the Nordic countries house people who are linked to what they call terrorist groups, and because they have stopped arms exports to Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday that his country expects Sweden and Finland to take concrete measures and stop such support before the country raises its objections. Read more
A separate person close to the situation said that Wednesday’s talks did not make any clear progress and ended without any timeline to continue, raising the prospect that Turkey may still oppose membership offers when NATO holds a summit on 29-30 June in Madrid.
The Swedish and Finnish Ministries of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
The five-hour discussions were cordial and included separate sessions between Turkish officials and counterparts from the two Nordic countries, followed by three-way talks with all parties, the other source added.
A third source told Reuters that Turkish officials downplayed the prospects of reaching an agreement ahead of the Madrid summit.
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Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Jonathan Spicer Editing by Daren Butler and Frances Kerry
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