Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has invited NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Ankara. The trip may take place in the next few days. Stoltenberg aims for a quick solution to Sweden’s membership.
OSLO NATO’s long-time Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is clearly pleased when the informal meeting of foreign ministers is held in his former hometown of Oslo. Outside the meeting place, after the meeting, Stoltenberg even agrees to take cellphone pictures with passers-by.
After the official press conference, Stoltenberg gave some separate interviews. got seven minutes.
Sweden’s membership is now on everyone’s lips
Stoltenberg announced on Thursday morning that the re-elected president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had invited him to Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
According to Stoltenberg, the trip can take place very quickly. Its number one topic is Sweden’s NATO membership.
– Sweden’s new terrorism legislation entered into force today, Thursday, and with it, Sweden has fulfilled all the conditions related to membership, which have been recorded in the joint protocol of Turkey, Sweden and Finland.
Stoltenberg says he will do everything he can so that Sweden’s membership is realized at the latest at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July.
– It is completely possible, but it is not certain yet, says Stoltenberg.
The NATO summit will discuss the defense alliance’s new plans in case of a possible Russian attack. The previous ones are from the Cold War era.
According to Stoltenberg, Sweden is not a problem, because its cooperation with NATO is very close even without full membership.
Defense cooperation on a completely new level
Stoltenberg’s term as NATO Secretary General ends in the fall. He does not consider it a personal failure if Sweden’s membership was still open.
– I am very happy that Finland is now a member, and that Sweden has this “invited member status”. The situation is completely different now: the countries have received bilateral security guarantees.
– That is why it would be absolutely impossible to think that NATO would not defend Sweden if it were threatened. So a lot has happened.
Finally, Stoltenberg states that he is happy for Sweden, the Nordic countries, the Baltics and NATO as a whole when Sweden’s membership becomes a reality.