The issue is now expected to be discussed at the highest level in a meeting between the Turkish president and the Swedish prime minister during the Alliance summit next week.
Although O NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the accession of Sweden at Alliance is close, following talks with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Sweden at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Stockholm failed today to convince Ankara to lift its veto and the issue is now expected to be discussed at the highest level in a meeting between the Turkish president and the Swedish prime minister during the Alliance summit next week.
Stoltenberg announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christerson will meet in Vilnius on Monday, ahead of a NATO summit there, with the aim of bridging the gap between the two sides. “The time has come for Sweden to join the Alliance,” Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels, adding that he hoped for a positive outcome of the talks in time for the Alliance’s summit starting Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital.
“My main ambition now is to get this agreed at the summit,” he told reporters.
“We hope and look for a positive decision next week,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told reporters. “The process continues and of course we are working very intensively in the coming days in order to become a member of NATO.”
Earlier today, a Swedish court found a man guilty of trying to finance the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union, including Sweden.
Stoltenberg today supported Sweden’s view that the country has fulfilled all its commitments to Ankara.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stressed that Sweden must show that the changes to its legislation are being implemented.
“Sweden has taken some steps regarding legislative changes, removed defense industry restrictions against Turkey… The legal changes should be implemented now,” Fidan told reporters.
With regard to the removal of Turkish obstacles to the integration of the Nordic country, there may be pressure from the American side as Joe Biden and Erdogan may have a one-on-one meeting during the summit, according to sources.
Source :Skai
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