The Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, guaranteed, this Tuesday afternoon, that Sweden “has not been left alone” and that he hopes that, “very soon”, the country will become part of NATO, rejecting that there is a “stalemate”. “in negotiations.
Stoltenberg was speaking at the end of the first of two days of meetings of foreign ministers from NATO member countries, which now count Finland among their allies.
The formalization of the formal moment in which Finland begins to be represented in the Alliance was, in fact, the highlight of the meeting, on a “historic day”, as the NATO Secretary General described it, recalling that this is also the day that marks 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 Sweden’s entry process has been slower, with negotiations with Turkey dragging out over disagreements over extradition processes for 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 dead end”.
“There was a dead end, but we managed to get it out,” Stoltenberg guarantees, admitting that “for a few weeks or months there were no meetings, no contact.”
“However, after a meeting I had with President Erdogan, in fact, a few weeks ago, we agreed to restart that process,” he stressed, referring to “a meeting here at NATO headquarters, with Finland, Sweden and Turkey.” Stoltenberg guarantees that “there are constant consultations” between the parties and even an agreement to “meet again”
“I recently spoke with President Erdogan and we continue working at different levels to advance, also, in the accession of Sweden”, he assured, convinced that “Sweden will become a member”.
“We are working hard to make this happen as quickly as possible,” he said, considering that “the important thing is to remember that Sweden was not left alone and the allies are watching Sweden.”
A source familiar with the negotiations, heard in Brussels by the TSF, acknowledges that the process presents “difficult to resolve” frictions, but believes that the issues “will be overcome.” However, 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, will have to be balanced against the “legitimate” fears of Turkey. , about attacks on their own territory.
The PKK is an outlaw party in Turkey and considered a terrorist organization, even by the European Union, due to the attacks it carries out on Turkish soil. On the other hand, “the YPG helped fight against DAESH, the organization that carried out terrorist attacks on European soil”, the same source highlighted, admitting that the file is difficult to manage, although he believes that “it will be resolved”.
The NATO Secretary General admits that “Ankara’s concerns” in terms of security “are legitimate”, but hopes that the dispute will be resolved as soon as possible, by the entry of a new member into the alliance, admitting that this could come to be taken before the Vilnius summit, scheduled for July.
Source: TSF
