NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will meet in Madrid tomorrow. Stating that the purpose of this planned meeting is to make progress, Stoltenberg said, “The purpose of this meeting is of course to make progress on Finland and Sweden. I won’t make any promises, but I can assure you that we are actively working to make progress. Finland and Sweden’s application to join NATO is a historic decision. It will be something that will strengthen NATO and contribute to stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. So the goal is to make progress,” he said.
“WE SHOULD CONSIDER TURKEY’S CONCERNS”
Stating that they are working hard for Finland and Sweden to join NATO, Stoltenberg said that they should also consider Turkey’s security concerns and said, “After Finland and Sweden applied for membership, we worked hard to ensure that they could join the alliance. At the same time, we need to take into account the concerns expressed by the Allies, and in this case by Turkey. That is why we have intensified the dialogue in recent weeks with our allies Turkey, Finland and Sweden. I met with President Erdogan on Saturday and will meet with Prime Minister Andersson later today. I am very pleased that President Niinisto, President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Andersson will meet in Madrid tomorrow.”
DHA