NATO applauds Sweden's steps to meet Turkey's demands and unlock its accession

BRUSSELS, June 13 (EUROPA PRESS) -

NATO has applauded this Monday the steps taken by Sweden to meet the demands of Turkey that blocks its entry and that of Finland to the military organization alleging alleged collusion with members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"The messages, the signals that Sweden has provided in recent days and with the statement in Parliament last week and also by the prime minister now. They are useful," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. visiting both Nordic countries to seek to unblock the situation-

At a press conference with the Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, the NATO political chief stressed that the steps taken indicate that both Sweden and Finland are ready to address "concretely" the terrorism-related concerns expressed by Ankara. .

In this way, he has applauded Sweden's progress in reforming its anti-terrorism law and opening up to relaxing the rules on arms exports, since both Sweden and Finland maintain a ban on the sale of arms to Turkey due to their actions in northern Syria.

"We take the concerns of Turkey and other issues very seriously, and that there are no security concerns with regard to the fight against terrorism," Andersson assured, trusting that the bilateral dialogue with Ankara and the three-way talks with Helsinki serve to reaffirm the commitment to the fight against terrorism.

Without mentioning specific deadlines, Stoltenberg has said that he hopes that "as soon as possible" the process will get off the ground and both Scandinavian countries will join NATO, given the high level of preparation and modernity of their Armies. After an 'express' entry of Sweden and Finland was taken for granted, the former Norwegian prime minister has admitted that it is unpredictable to say when the process will positively conclude.

"With various nations involved in these talks, there is no way of saying exactly when we will be able to resolve and find a joint way forward on these issues," he said, again avoiding talk of the Madrid summit at the end of June as a deadline. despite the fact that within the Atlantic Alliance a quick accession of two weeks was taken for granted and that at the meeting in Spain both Scandinavian countries were already 'de facto' members, awaiting ratification.

Allied sources consulted by Europa Press are not optimistic that Turkey's veto will be lifted in a matter of weeks. The meetings take place in a climate of discretion and for the moment little has transpired about the requests and advances in three bands.