On June 4, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg said that an agreement on Sweden joining the military alliance could be reached before the NATO Summit in Lithuania in July.
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| NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. (Source: AFP) |
Mr. Stoltenberg made the statement after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
According to Mr. Stoltenberg, officials from Türkiye, Sweden and Finland will meet this month - expected in the week starting June 12 - to find a way to resolve the problems that have been encountered, due to the objections of Ankara and Budapest, which have delayed Sweden's NATO accession process.
According to plan, NATO defense ministers will also meet in Brussels (Belgium) on June 15-16.
In an interview with Reuters , Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that it is important to take advantage of the remaining time before the NATO Summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to reach an agreement on Sweden's accession to the alliance.
Sweden officially applied to join NATO in May 2022. To become a full member of the organization, the application must be ratified by all member states. To date, 28 out of 30 member states have accepted Sweden's membership in NATO.
Türkiye and Hungary have not yet supported Sweden joining the alliance. Türkiye believes that Sweden harbors members of groups that Ankara considers terrorists.
However, the NATO chief recently said: "Sweden has taken important concrete steps to address Türkiye's concerns. Sweden has fulfilled its obligations."
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