Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that he will hold a meeting in Bucharest on Tuesday with his counterparts from Sweden and Finland regarding the two countries’ accession to NATO, Turkish media reported on Monday, AFP reported.

“Tomorrow in Bucharest we will have a meeting with the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland as part of a tripartite meeting,” Çavuşoğlu said on Monday on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest, according to private television. NTV channel.

“The process is progressing in a positive way, but there are still steps to be taken,” the Turkish minister added.

During a visit to Ankara in early November, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson promised to respond to Turkey’s concerns about its fight against terrorism so that all obstacles to Sweden’s NATO membership could be removed.

“Questions regarding Finland are not very important. (…) The country that should take the most steps is Sweden,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu emphasized.

Currently, 28 of the 30 NATO member states have ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland, which requires unanimity. Only Hungary and Turkey have not yet given their consent.

Shortly after the Madrid summit (June 28-30), Sweden and Finland reached an agreement with Ankara; two Scandinavian countries expressed their support for Turkey in the fight against threats to its national security and promised to facilitate the extradition of suspects pursued by the Turkish authorities.

Turkey later sent two northern countries extradition requests for 33 people, most of whom Ankara considers “terrorists.”

Traditionally neutral Finland and Sweden decided to join NATO in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine on February 24. Finland and Russia have a common land border with a length of 1340 kilometers. (Bucharest)