Facts: The NATO summit in Madrid
The heads of state and government of the NATO countries will hold a summit in Madrid on 28-30 June. Here are parts of the program:
June 28:
20.30: Gala dinner with King Felipe VI as host.
June 29:
10.30: Introductory meeting for the leaders of the 30 NATO countries.
15: Continued meeting with participants from partner countries.
6.30 pm: Informal working dinners for the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Ministers.
19: Informal “transatlantic dinner” for the Heads of State and Government.
June 30th:
10 am: Closing meeting.
12.15: Closing press conference with Jens Stoltenberg.
Source: NATO.
There is not much advance information about today’s meeting
“We can confirm that high-ranking representatives of Turkey, Finland and Sweden will meet high-ranking NATO officials at their headquarters in Brussels on Monday at the invitation of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg,” a NATO spokesman said by e-mail last week.
“They will address the security concerns raised by our member Turkey, in order to make progress on Finland’s and Sweden’s membership applications. The Secretary General and his staff remain in close contact with everyone involved in this important issue,” the NATO spokesman said.
According to another NATO source, only a written statement may be expected afterwards.
Secretary of State
Sweden is represented at the meeting by Oscar Stenström, State Secretary to Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (S). The other participants are still unconfirmed – although it is likely that Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal and – or – Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin will speak for Turkey. Both were at least in Brussels yesterday to “hold talks and work on Sweden’s and Finland’s applications”, writes the English-speaking Turkish government agency Daily Sabah.
According to the Daily Sabah, Kalin and Turkey still expect Sweden and Finland to stop allowing “terrorist groups such as the PKK, PYD, YPG, the Gülen Group (FETÖ), DHKP-C and their front organizations” to act in Sweden and Finland. According to Ibrahim Kalin, this applies to all fundraising, staff recruitment, activities and propaganda against Turkey.
“I want to emphasize once again that the process will not go ahead until such threats to Turkey’s security are eliminated in these countries,” the presidential spokesman said at a speech in Ankara on Saturday, according to the Daily Sabah.
No turning point?
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly reiterated that NATO wants a solution “as soon as possible”, but has also emphasized that next week’s NATO summit in Madrid on 28-30 June is not a target date.
Similar words are heard from Turkey.
– The revision of the strategic concept and the war between Ukraine and Russia, food security, counter-terrorism, cyber security and other security issues will be discussed in detail. The summit is extremely important in that way. But we do not see the Madrid Summit as a historic turning point for Sweden’s and Finland’s membership process, said Ibrahim Kalin on Saturday, according to the Daily Sabah.