The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, was convinced on Monday that Sweden has already taken “important steps” to satisfy the concerns of Turkey, which is blocking the entry of this and Finland into the Alliance because it considers that its position regarding to Kurdish terrorism is lukewarm.
(Also read: Denmark votes ‘yes’ to join EU defense policy)
“I appreciate that Sweden has started to change its anti-terrorism legislation and that it is going to ensure that the legal framework for arms exports reflects the future status as a member of NATO, with new commitments to allies,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
Following a meeting between Stoltenberg and the Swedish Social Democratic government, Andersson reiterated, as he had said last Friday before Parliament in a new foreign policy statement, that Sweden will provide security “to all members” of the Alliance, including Turkey, and will opened to lift the veto on arms sales to this country.
Andersson recalled that his country has modified anti-terrorist legislation several times in recent years. and that he plans new changes in a few weeks, on issues such as financing.
“We take Turkey’s considerations very seriously, not least the security issues on the fight against terrorism,” said the prime minister, who did not want to go into details on issues such as the alleged request for the extradition of Kurdish activists residing in Sweden made by Ankara.
Stoltenberg also refused to reveal how the negotiations are taking place because he believes that it would not be “useful”, an adjective he used to describe the “signs” launched by Stockholm, which he considers show that both Sweden and Finland are ready “to respond concretely to Turkish concerns. “.
We take Turkey’s considerations very seriously, not least the security issues of fighting terrorism.
The top leader of NATO was sympathetic, as he had done yesterday during his visit to Helsinki, with the Turkish misgivings and stressed that both NATO countries and the European Union (EU), including Sweden, consider a terrorist group to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
None of them referred instead to the Kurdish militias People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara calls a branch of the PKK but that they were allies of the US in the war in Syria and are not considered terrorists by Washington or Brussels, and to whom Stockholm has given express support.
no specific limit
Stoltenberg reiterated on several occasions, as in Helsinki, that there is no deadline to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties and that neither is the next summit in Madrid, on the 29th and 30th.
(You may be interested: The Russian territory within Europe that will be surrounded by NATO countries)
“The goal is to resolve these issues as soon as possible. But there are several countries involved, there is no way to say when we will have resolved it,” he said at a press conference held in Harpsund (south of Stockholm), at the vacation residence of the prime minister.
A hypothetical delay in the process would not necessarily mean a security problem for Sweden and Finland, said Stoltenberg, who believes that both are in a better position now than before submitting their application to join NATO, justified by the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
“Many allies such as the United States and the United Kingdom have given them security guarantees. That makes a difference. In addition, we are doing more exercises together in the area. If Sweden were attacked, it would be unthinkable that the allies did not react. That is a clear message “, he claimed.
The joint decision of Sweden and Finland to end decades of non-alignment and apply for NATO membership, formalized in mid-May, is a “historic” step at a “critical” time for security, according to Stoltenberg.
The top leader of the Alliance is convinced that his entry will strengthen transatlantic cooperation and NATO’s presence in northern Europe, in addition to enabling better cooperation in the Nordic-Baltic region.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from Efe
More world news
– They find two bodies in the Amazon after searching for the disappeared
– Mexico: Colombian criminal gangs in the crosshairs of the authorities
– Johnson: New law only makes ‘trivial adjustments’ to Northern Ireland protocol
#NATO #Sweden #important #steps #meet #Turkish #demands