The new meeting was agreed upon when NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.
– We agreed to call a high-level meeting in Brussels before the summit (in Vilnius July 11-12). The intention is to make progress toward completing Sweden’s accession to NATO, Stoltenberg says at a news conference in Lithuania.
The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs and national security advisers from Sweden, Finland and Turkey. The meeting will take place in Brussels next week. The day it will be announced has not yet been announced.
Waiting for bids
Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (man) is positive – but so far puritanical, waiting for an invitation to “actually be at the table”.
It has been said before that new discussions will take place and now the Secretary General of NATO has taken the initiative to hold new meetings. Who will participate, I can’t go here and now, but if I receive an invitation as foreign minister, I will naturally stand up, says Bellstrom in connection with the EU meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
Sweden’s hope for NATO membership at the latest remains at the July summit at the same time.
– The whole idea is that we should continue the operation forward to Vilnius. Billstrom says the government’s ambition for us to be NATO members at the latest in Vilnius remains firm.
Phone call
Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter on Sunday that he had a “good conversation” with President Erdogan.
The Secretary General wrote: “We will work together for Sweden’s accession to NATO.”
On Turkey’s part, a post on the website of the Turkish Presidency Administration confirms that Turkey maintains its “constructive stance”, but that the new Swedish terrorism legislation “will not make sense as long as the PKK/PYD/YPG supporters freely organize demonstrations” in Sweden.
There is not much to comment on, Bellstrom believes.
– In this case, it is not interesting what is going on in the media, but the fact is that we know from the Swedish side that we have done what was required of us regarding the memorandum (between Sweden, Finland and Turkey) that was included in Madrid last year, says the foreign minister.
No flight connection?
The Turkish Post also explicitly indicates that Turkey’s position has nothing to do with the country’s requests for new fighter jets from the United States.
“Attempts to link Turkey’s desires for the F-16s to Sweden’s membership harm NATO and its security, not Turkey,” the statement said. the post.
Stoltenberg’s announcement on the new NATO summit comes within the framework of his visit to Lithuania to observe a NATO maneuver and to prepare for the summit, which will be held in the capital, Vilnius, within a few weeks.
– Stoltenberg stresses that the entry of Finland (to NATO) and soon Sweden will also enhance security in the Baltic states.
Sweden, Finland, Turkey and NATO last met at the formal level in Ankara on June 14.
Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) on his way to a meeting of the European Union on Monday in Luxembourg. Photo: Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Sweden is still waiting to become the 32nd member of NATO, despite its status as a potential member (invited in English) since last summer.
To enter, approval by the Turkish-Hungarian Parliament is required first. In Hungary, Parliament remains open further until July 7. According to Agence France-Presse, the ratification of the Swedish NATO is one of the topics on the list of matters to be dealt with.
Regarding Turkey, a joint meeting of NATO, Turkey, Sweden and Finland took place in Ankara on June 14. A new meeting at the level of foreign ministers is scheduled to be held in Brussels next week.
Sweden’s goal is to have membership ready for the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12.
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