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NATO chief to Putin: Free the journalist

NATO chief to Putin: Free the journalist

He expected NATO Secretary General to raise the Russian allegations against the detained Wall Street Journal journalist when NATO foreign ministers meet on Tuesday for a two-day meeting.

– It is important to respect the freedom of the press, the rights of journalists and the right to ask questions and do their job, Stoltenberg says in his press conference before the meeting.

Otherwise, the main topic is the preparation for this summer’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, including through discussions on how to develop cooperation with Ukraine and how NATO should push all member states towards a spending target equivalent to 2% of GDP. in defence.

– In Vilnius, I expect countries to agree on new, ambitious investment targets, where 2% of GDP will be the minimum, not the maximum, says Stoltenberg.

As usual, Sweden participates fully in the NATO meeting, according to its status as a potential member – invited in English – which it received last summer. At the same time, Finland is included for the first time as a full member, as the Finnish entry will be officially finalized on Tuesday.

NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The meeting begins with Finland being welcomed as the 31st Member State with a flag-raising ceremony at 3:35 pm.

After that, a first session will be held at 4 pm, focusing on the situation in Ukraine.

On Wednesdays there are two sessions: first a regular session from 8.15am, then a session with colleagues from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea from 11am.

The meeting concluded with a press conference with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at 2.15pm on Wednesday.