NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg supports “Turkey’s ambition” to join the European Union, but suggests this is a process that should not be linked to Sweden’s membership in the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that Sweden will get the green light from Ankara to join NATO when Turkey joins the European Union.
This morning, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs stated, in statements to the TSF, that Stockholm has already complied with all of Ankara’s demands and says that the ball is in Erdogan’s court. Stoltenberg will meet this afternoon with the Turkish President and the Swedish Prime Minister and awaits the results of that meeting.
Without departing from Ankara’s position, the NATO Secretary General suggests that Turkey’s accession to the European Union and Sweden’s to NATO should remain separate processes.
“I support Turkey’s ambitions to become a member of the European Union,” assumed the NATO Secretary General, stressing that “at the same time” what was agreed “in Madrid” must be taken into account.
At the Madrid summit, a memorandum was signed with “a specific list of conditions that Sweden has to fulfill in order to become a full member of the Alliance”, recalled Jens Stoltenberg, stressing that “Sweden has fulfilled these conditions”.
The NATO secretary general believes that “it is important” that Ankara’s security concerns be taken into account. “But it is equally important that we respond to the legitimate security concerns of all the allies who want to see Sweden as a member of the alliance as soon as possible, because this will strengthen NATO and bolster our defense and security capabilities, particularly in the region. of the Baltic,” he said.
“So we are working hard for Sweden to become a member as soon as possible. I look forward to meeting President Erdogan and Prime Minister Kristersson later today. [segunda-feira]”, Confessed Jens Stoltenberg showing optimism about the outcome of the match.
“It is still possible to make a positive decision on Sweden’s accession, here in Vilnius,” he said, admitting there are no “certainties” or “guarantees.”
“But of course we now have momentum from the summit with the leaders and we will use that momentum to ensure as much progress as possible,” the NATO secretary general said.
This Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Tobias Billström, told the TSFhis optimism regarding the results of the NATO summit, assuming “the conviction” that Turkey will raise all its objections to Sweden’s accession to the Atlantic Alliance.
“I am convinced that as we stand on the verge of the Vilnius summit, on the part of the Swedish government we hope that there will be a positive response from Turkey, so that the ratification process can start as soon as the summit is over,” he said. the minister, sure that on Stockholm’s side the negotiations are finished.
“It is our conclusion, from the Swedish Government, that we have fulfilled all the commitments we have assumed and, therefore, we have also fulfilled the promises we made in Madrid, to take Turkey’s security problems seriously,” he stressed.
The Swedish minister affirmed that there are demonstrative examples of the actions of the authorities in Stockholm, given the concerns of Turkey.
“We had a court verdict in Sweden that a person belonging to the PKK [Partido dos Trabalhadores do Curdistão] He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and to be extradited”, specified the minister, for whom this example “is a clear sign that Sweden is taking security problems in relation to the PKK very seriously”.
Source: TSF
