(PLO)- According to Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, on March 9, Turkey, Sweden and Finland will hold a third dialogue on the application of the two Nordic countries to join NATO.
On February 27, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that negotiations with Sweden and Finland on their application to join the North Atlantic Organization (NATO) will resume on March 9, the airline said. Archyde.com news.
Earlier in January, Turkey canceled talks with Sweden and Finland following protests broke out in the capital Stockholm once morest Turkey and once morest Sweden’s entry into NATO, including burning a copy of the Koran, has increased tensions between Ankara and Stockholm.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Photo: Costas Baltas/REUTERS |
“The third meeting between [các đại diện] of Turkey, Sweden and Finland will be held in Brussels on March 9,” Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.
In addition, the Turkish foreign minister said that the upcoming meeting between the three countries is not a “negotiation” but a meeting “organized to coordinate and let the parties see … what has been done. and what remains to be done” as well as to see what stage Sweden and Finland are in the process of joining NATO, the news agency TASS news.
He also stressed that the two Nordic countries “are not enemies of Ankara but they have some problems that need to be resolved”.
A spokesman for the Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed the upcoming meeting.
In May 2022, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO. To become full members, these two Nordic countries need the approval of all 30 NATO member countries. Currently, only Turkey and Hungary have not ratified the above applications to join NATO.
However, Sweden’s application to join NATO was particularly opposed by Turkey. Ankara has repeatedly accused Stockholm of harboring a group of Kurdish fighters that it considers “terrorists”.
At the same press conference, the top Turkish diplomat said that the country “has not seen satisfactory steps from Sweden in the field of counter-terrorism operations in the implementation of the Madrid Memorandum of Understanding” that the three Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed in 2022.
Mr. Cavusoglu also noted that despite the fact that Stockholm has introduced some amendments to the constitution and anti-terrorism laws, these organizations continue to operate in Sweden in the old way without any changes.
Therefore, Cavusoglu stressed: “We cannot agree to Sweden’s application to join NATO before we have seen the above steps.”
In a bid to defuse tensions with Turkey, the Swedish government plans on March 9 to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to be part of or support a terrorist organization. The bill is expected to go into effect on June 1.
Turkey sets conditions to accept Sweden’s application to join NATO
(PLO) – President Erdogan said that Turkey will not ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO as long as the country allows protests once morest the Koran.
VINH KHANG
