Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, assured this Tuesday afternoon that Sweden “has not been left to its own devices” and that he hopes “very soon” to join NATO, rejecting that there is a “deadlock”. is in the negotiations.
Stoltenberg was speaking at the end of the first of two days of meetings of foreign ministers from NATO member states, which now count Finland among their allies.
The formalization of the formal moment when Finland will start being represented in the Alliance was in fact the highlight of the meeting, on a “historic day”, as the Secretary General of NATO called it, recalling that these are also the day-markers the 74th anniversary of the signing, in 1949, of the Washington Treaty, which gave rise to the Atlantic Alliance.
Finland and Sweden formalized their membership applications less than a year ago, in May 2022. But the process of Sweden’s accession is slowing down, with negotiations with Turkey dragging on over disagreements over the extradition of Kurds close to the PKK.
Jens Stoltenberg hopes that the obstacles will be lifted, but rejects that the negotiations are blocked and affirms that “there is no deadlock”. “There was a deadlock, but we managed to clear it,” he assures, admitting that “there were no meetings for a few weeks or months.” “But after a meeting I had with President Erdogan a few weeks ago, we agreed to restart that process.”, he underlined, referring to “a meeting at NATO headquarters with Finland, Sweden and Turkey”. Stoltenberg guarantees that there is “ongoing consultation” between the parties and even an agreement for a new meeting.
“I recently spoke with President Erdogan and we continue to work at different levels to make progress in Sweden’s accession as well,” he assured, confident that “Sweden will join”. “We are working hard to make that happen as soon as possible”he said, noting that “the most important thing is to remember that Sweden has not been left alone and that the Allies are paying attention to Sweden”.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations, heard in Brussels by the DN, acknowledges that the process creates frictions “difficult to resolve” but believes the problems “will be overcome”. However, a balance will have to be struck between the “important” role of the YPG, armed members close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in the fight against the Islamic State (DAESH) in Syria, and the “legitimate” fears of Turkey for attacks on its own territory.
The PKK is a banned party in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization, including by the European Union, due to attacks on Turkish soil. On the other hand, “YPG has helped in the fight against ISIS, the organization that has carried out terrorist attacks on European soil,” the same source stressed, admitting that the file is difficult to manage, although he believes that “it will be dissolved”.
NATO Secretary General admits “Ankara’s security concerns” are “justified”, but hopes the dispute will be resolved as soon as possible before a new member joins the Alliance, admitting that this may still take place before the summit of Vilnius, which is scheduled for July.
Source: DN
