News: NATO hosts Turkey, Finland, Sweden negotiations, June 20, 2022
At the invitation of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, senior officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden met senior NATO officials at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on Monday (June 20, 2022). Under the leadership of Stian Jenssen, Director of the Secretary – General’s Private Office, the talks focused on the security issues raised by Türkiye in order to make progress with Finland’s and Sweden’s applications for NATO membership.
The Turkish delegation was led by Ambassador İbrahim Kalın, Presidential Spokesman and Special Adviser to the President of the Republic of Turkey; the Finnish delegation was led by Petri Hakkarainen, Head of Foreign and Security Policy at the Office of the President of the Republic; and the Swedish delegation was led by Oscar Stenström, State Secretary with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and the Security Policy Council, in the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office.
“I welcome the constructive meeting held today on the historic applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He added: “Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO would make the alliance stronger and the entire Euro-Atlantic area safer. Turkey has legitimate security concerns about terrorism that we need to address. So we will continue our talks on Finland’s and Sweden’s applications for NATO membership, and I look forward to finding a way forward as soon as possible. ”
Monday’s talks followed a series of meetings in recent weeks to address Turkey’s security problems and make progress in Finland and Sweden’s applications for NATO membership. The discussions will continue in the coming days.