OUR Finland will hold a meeting in August with delegations from Sweden as well as Turkeywhich will focus on the memorandum they signed between themselves to pave the way for the integration of the two Nordic countries into NATOThis was stated today by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

“Representatives from Finland, Sweden and Turkey will meet in Finland in August,” Pekka Haavisto told reporters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the meeting, saying it would take place on August 26, but did not specify the location.

Finland and Sweden abandoned their traditional policy of neutrality by announcing their desire to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. More than half of NATO members have already ratified the accession process. Only Turkey objected, demanding compromises from Helsinki and Stockholm.

Haavisto said the meeting will continue discussions on the memorandum signed by the three countries in June in Madrid. By signing this text, Ankara lifted its veto on the entry of the two countries into NATO. In the memorandum, Sweden and Finland confirm that they consider the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) a terrorist organization and pledge not to support various other Kurdish organizations such as the YPG in Syria. They also agreed to consider Ankara’s requests for the extradition of Kurdish fighters and suspects accused by Turkey in the 2016 coup attempt.

Source: APE/MEB