23 minutes agoChief NATO Speaking with Erdogan About Finland, Sweden Membership
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has met with Finland's prime minister and spoke with Turkey's president, while seeking to overcome Turkish resistance to the union of Finland and Sweden with the alliance. Stoltenberg, who visited Washington this week, posted on Twitter late Friday that he met with the Finnish prime minister [...]
Stoltenberg, who visited Washington this week, posted on Twitter late Friday that he met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and discussed “the need to address Turkey's concerns and move forward” with applications for Finnish and Swedish membership.
Russia's war in Ukraine prompted Nordic countries to apply to join NATO, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Sweden and Finland of supporting Kurdish militants considered by Turkey as terrorists.
Stoltenberg said there was a constructive <x0phony” with Erdogan, calling Turkey a valid “ales” and assessing Turkish efforts to broker an agreement to secure the transport of grain supplies from Ukraine amid the global lack of food caused by war.
Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter that he and Erdogan will continue their dialogue without giving details.
NATO chief's diplomatic efforts came ahead of a meeting of senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey next week in Brussels, where NATO is located, to discuss Turkey's opposition to applications. /rel/
