Its foreign ministers Sweden and her Turkey they will meet “soon” to discuss its ratification integration of the Scandinavian country in NATO which is delayed, announced today the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sweden and Finland have applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, while Finland joined the Alliance in April, Sweden’s entry is delayed due to objections raised by Turkey and Hungary.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told SVT television earlier today that he will meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Oslo.

“However, we have been informed that Turkey’s foreign minister will not be coming, so there will be no meeting there,” a Billstrom spokesman said, adding, however, that the meeting would take place “soon.”

Frictions between Turkey and Sweden are long-standing.

In the past, Sweden has criticized Turkey’s human rights record and questioned Ankara’s adherence to democratic standards.

Turkey maintains that Sweden provides sanctuary to members of organizations that Ankara considers terrorists. Turkey also says that the Scandinavian country has not fulfilled the terms of the agreement reached in Madrid last June, which were intended to appease Ankara’s security concerns.

Talks between the two countries on NATO stalled during Turkish elections, which incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won in the second round yesterday.

“I’m looking forward to being able to shift gears and speed things up now that we know what the outcome is,” Billstrom said.

He reiterated that the Swedish government hopes the country can become NATO’s 32nd member state by the time of the Alliance’s summit, which will be held in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July 11-12.