NATO: Sweden, Finland, Turkey meet for accession bid | News | DW
Official representatives from Turkey, Finland and Sweden met near the Finnish capital on Friday in a bid to advance the two Nordic countries’ bids to join the NATO alliance.
Friday’s talks in the city of Vantaa were the first since the three signed an agreement in Madrid in June.
Turkey is the only NATO member to explicitly oppose the accession of Helsinki and Stockholm, arguing that it had imposed an arms embargo on Ankara while harboring individuals it considers “terrorists”.
What did the parties say after the meeting?
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto described the meeting as a set of goals for cooperation and establishment of contacts as agreed in Madrid.
“Participants discussed the concrete steps to implement the trilateral memorandum and agreed that the mechanism will continue to meet at the expert level in the fall,” his ministry said after the meeting.
Turkish presidential political adviser Ibrahim Kalin, who attended the meeting on Ankara’s behalf, said Stockholm and Helsinki are open to Turkey’s demands.
“Finland and Sweden have renewed their commitment to show full solidarity and cooperation with Turkey in the fight against all forms and manifestations of terror,” Kalin’s office said in a statement.
Turkey’s opposition
June’s deal set the stage for clearing the hurdles, but Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to freeze the application process soon after.
Sweden announced its first extradition of a Turkish national earlier this month, as part of the Madrid agreement, but Turkey said this week that this is still a long way from what Sweden agreed to.
More than half of NATO’s member states have already ratified the two Nordic countries’ accession to the alliance – a step taken in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February – but unanimous consent is required for a new member to be accepted.
ab/fb (AFP, Reuters)