US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirms his country’s support for Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO, and “NATO” clarifies that “Turkey does not intend to freeze Sweden and Finland’s membership applications to the alliance, but it has concerns.”
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To NATO Secretary General: Turkey does not intend to freeze Sweden and Finland membership applications to the alliance
Today, Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed his confidence in Sweden and Finland’s joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “NATO”, despite Turkey’s objection.
“The United States will strongly support the request of Sweden and Finland to join NATO if they choose to formally run for membership in the alliance,” Blinken said following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, adding that he was “strongly confident that a consensus would be reached.”
On Sunday, the Finnish government took An official decision to join NATOAfter completing a report on her accession to the alliance, she obtained fields on his draft. According to the report, accession talks cover five areas: political issues, legal issues, resource issues, information security issues, defense and military issues.
In Sweden, senior officials of the Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson are meeting Sunday followingnoon to decide whether the party should abandon its historic anti-NATO line that was reaffirmed at a conference last November.
But Turkey expresses “pessimism” Sweden and Finland’s plans to join NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his refusal to join the alliance, and the Turkish president blames these two countries for turning them into a “hotel for PKK terrorists”, which Ankara, along with the European Union and the United States, considers a “terrorist organization”.
Ankara: We oppose providing support to terrorism
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed that “Turkey does not oppose the expansion of NATO and the accession of new countries to it,” but it “opposes providing support for terrorism,” referring to Sweden and Finland’s positions in support of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey. .
“We do not oppose NATO expansion, but it is not possible to accept support for terrorism, and our NATO allies should provide us with security guarantees in terms of supporting terrorism and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party,” Cavusoglu added, during a press conference following an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin.
The Turkish Foreign Minister explained that “Sweden did not show a positive position on the issue of supporting terrorism, and the statements of its foreign minister were provocative and unconstructive, while Finland’s position was positive,” saying that “any country that will be a member of NATO, You should not support the PKKwhich Ankara classifies as a terrorist organization.
And yesterday, Saturday, one of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top advisors, Ibrahim Kalin, stressed that “Turkey does not close the door to Finland or Sweden seeking to join NATO.”
Ibrahim Kalin noted,Turkey seeks to negotiate with Sweden and other countries regarding security concerns,” he said, adding that “Sweden and Finland should prevent the activities of the PKK and its presence on their soil.”
Stoltenberg: NATO has intensified its military presence in Eastern Europe
In this context, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that “Turkey does not intend to freeze the applications for membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO if they are submitted, although Ankara has concerns regarding Stockholm and Helsinki’s support for the PKK.”
“Turkey does not intend to freeze the requests of Sweden and Finland to join NATO, but it has some concerns,” Stoltenberg said, in a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Annallina Birbock following an informal meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states.
He pointed out that “the alliance has intensified its military presence in Eastern Europe, especially the Balkans, following the launch of the Russian military operation in Ukraine,” noting that “NATO is monitoring the possibility of Russia carrying out cyber sabotage acts.”
In turn, German Foreign Minister Annalina Birbock confirmed that “Finland and Sweden are militarily qualified to join NATO.” “Finland and Sweden are militarily qualified to join NATO, especially with regard to their participation in NATO operations in different countries,” Birbock said.
