Stoltenberg will go to Turkey to talk about Finland and Sweden joining NATO

Turkey and Hungary are among the 30 NATO members that have yet to ratify the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Stoltenberg praised the “close contacts” that Finland and Sweden now have with Ankara “at all levels”.

“I will go to Istanbul to meet me in the near future [Turcijas] President [Redžepu Tajipu] to Erdogan “.

In the coming days, the new Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristerson, will also be visiting Ankara.

According to Stoltenberg, Hungary has “clearly confirmed” that its parliament will vote on the accession protocols of Finland and Sweden within the next month.

“I am confident that all allies will ratify the accession protocol,” added the secretary general.

He also ensured that while the admission process of Finland and Sweden continues, the security guarantees also apply to these countries.

“If there is pressure on Finland and Sweden, it would be unthinkable for NATO countries to stand by and not react. So we will react if there is pressure on Finland and Sweden,” Stoltenberg stressed.

With the onset of the repeated Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden have decided to abandon their long-standing neutrality policy and have decided to join NATO.

Stockholm and Helsinki hoped that the process of joining the alliance would proceed quickly, but Turkey slowed it down.

Erdogan accused both countries of hosting fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), arguing that it supports terrorism.

At a NATO summit in June, Finland and Sweden pledged not to support Kurdish groups in Syria that Turkey considers linked to the PKK and agreed to lift an arms embargo imposed on Ankara following the Turkish offensive in northern Syria in 2019. The two countries also pledged to deal with the extradition of wanted people from Ankara and to exchange information.