Its general secretary NATO, Jens Stoltenbergannounced today that he is going to move to Türkiye “in the near future” to try to remove the last obstacles to its accession Sweden in the Alliance.

“I spoke with (Turkish) President Erdogan in the first weeks and will go to Ankara soon” to “get Sweden into the Alliance as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said from Oslo, where the two-day ministerial meeting took place. conducted // Foreign affairs of NATO.

In addition, Stoltenberg stressed that Russia cannot veto Ukraine’s entry into the Alliance.

“All allies agree that Moscow has no veto power over NATO expansion,” he told reporters. “We are moving forward, the allies agree that Ukraine will join,” he added.

Swedish Foreign Minister: We have fulfilled our obligations

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilström said today that it is time for Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s request to join NATO.

At the beginning of the two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Norway, the head of Swedish diplomacy said: “We have fulfilled all our obligations.”

Billstrem is due to meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Oslo today.

Sweden and Finland applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, while Finland joined the Alliance in April, Sweden’s entry has been delayed due to objections raised by Turkey and Hungary.

Long term friction

In the past, Sweden has criticized Turkey’s human rights record and questioned Ankara’s commitment to democratic standards.

Turkey claims that Sweden provides asylum to members of organizations that Ankara considers terrorists. Turkey also says the Scandinavian country has failed to live up to the terms of an agreement reached in Madrid last June that was meant to assuage Ankara’s security concerns.

NATO talks between the two countries stalled during elections in Turkey, which were won in the second round by incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

^{According to APE – MEB, AFP, Reuters}