German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday called for strengthening aid from Atlantic Alliance countries to Ukraine and urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to ratify Sweden’s entry into NATO.
“I firmly believe that Sweden should also be at the top table as a new ally alongside Finland. I urge the re-elected Turkish President Erdogan to lead the process, as we all decided last year”said Scholz in the German federal parliament (Bundestag) referring to the upcoming summit of the Atlantic Alliance.
The German chancellor told deputies of the lower house of the German parliament that the NATO summit, to be held in Vilnius in July, should also strengthen allies’ support for the Kyiv government.
“The Ukrainian government itself has stated that there is no question of Ukraine joining NATO as long as Russia is at war (…). Therefore, I propose that at the Vilnius Summit we focus on what is an absolute priority, which is to strengthen Ukraine’s combat capability”said Olfaf Scholz.
The NATO Summit will take place in Lithuania on 11 and 12 July.
Turkey has blocked Sweden’s entry into NATO because it believes Stockholm protects refugees of Kurdish origin whom Ankara considers “terrorists”.
Source: DN
