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 of the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Sweden will get the green light from Ankara to join NATO when Turkey joins the European Union.
This morning the Swedish foreign minister stated in the DN/TSF that Stockholm has met all of Ankara’s demands and says the ball is in Erdogan’s court. Stoltenberg has a meeting with the Turkish president and the Swedish prime minister this afternoon and awaits the results of that meeting.
Without deviating from Ankara’s position, the NATO Secretary General suggests that Turkey’s accession to the European Union and Sweden’s to NATO should remain independent processes.
“I support Turkey’s ambitions to join the European Union,” NATO’s secretary-general accepted, stressing that “at the same time” “what we agreed in Madrid” must be taken into account.
A memorandum was signed at the Madrid summit with “a specific list of conditions that Sweden must fulfill in order to become a full member of the alliance”, recalled Jens Stoltenberg, emphasizing that “Sweden has fulfilled these conditions”.
The Secretary General of NATO says it is “important” that Ankara’s security concerns are taken into account. “But it is equally important that we respond to the legitimate security concerns of all allies who want to see Sweden join the alliance as soon as possible, as this will strengthen NATO and strengthen our ability to defend and protect, especially the Baltic region.”, he stated.
“So we are working hard to get Sweden to join as soon as possible. I look forward to meeting President Erdogan and Prime Minister Kristersson later today.” [segunda-feira]”, confessed Jens Stoltenberg optimistically about the outcome of the meeting.
“It is still possible to take a positive decision on Sweden’s entry here in Vilnius,” he said, admitting that “we are not sure, we have no guarantees”.
“But of course we now have momentum from the summit with leadership and we will use that momentum to make the greatest possible progress,” said NATO’s secretary general.
In the DN/TSF this Monday, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström expressed optimism about the outcome of the NATO summit, assuming that Turkey has overcome all objections to Sweden joining the Atlantic Alliance.
“It is my belief that as we approach the Vilnius summit, we hope on the part of the Swedish government that there will be a positive response from Turkey so that the ratification process can begin once the summit is ready,” he said. he. the minister, certain that the negotiations on the part of Stockholm have been completed.
“It is our conclusion, from the Swedish government, that we have fulfilled all the commitments we made and that is why we have fulfilled the promises we made in Madrid to take Turkey’s security problems seriously,” he stressed.
The Swedish minister stated that there are demonstrative examples of the actions of the Stockholm authorities in light of Turkey’s concerns.
“We had the verdict of the court in Sweden in which a person belonging to the PKK was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and to extradition,” said the minister, for whom this example is “a clear sign that Sweden is taking security issues regarding the PKK very seriously”.
Source: DN
