Sweden and Finland may join NATO by 2023, the alliance’s secretary general calculated on Sunday, recalling, however, that the development of events will depend on the parliaments of Turkey and Hungary.

“I expect (that the accession will happen in 2023), but I cannot guarantee the exact date, because this is certainly the decision of the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments, which have not yet ratified the agreement,” said Jens Stoltenberg in an interview he gave. to the French agency.

Hungary, and especially Turkey, has been blocking the accession of the two Scandinavian countries to NATO since May.

“We had negotiations, and they were quite demanding, last July, when Turkey, Finland and Sweden reached a memorandum in which they described how they could intensify their cooperation, both in the field of arms exports and, for example, in fight against terrorism. ”, Mr. Stoltenberg also recalled.

Finland and Sweden they kept the agreement and are committed to long-term cooperation with Turkey on these issues. Consequently, it’s time to complete the joining process and ratify the accession protocol,” he added.

Earlier, the Prime Minister of Sweden criticized some of Turkey’s demands. In December, Turkey’s Supreme Court refused to extradite journalist Bulent Kenes to Ankara at the request of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ankara “is also saying that it wants what we cannot and do not want to give it,” Ulf Kristerson said at a conference on defense and security.

However, Mr. Stoltenberg acknowledged that this is a fast process of accession. “Of course, I would like it to be finalized as soon as possible. But at the same time, it is a fast process compared to all NATO membership processes. I am convinced that this will happen, but I reserve the right to guess when exactly, ”he concluded.

Source: RES-IPE