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Türkiye blocked negotiations on Sweden and Finland joining NATO
The Turkish authorities have blocked the start of negotiations on the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. This is reported by the DPA agency and the Financial Times , citing sources.
According to the interlocutors of the publications, on May 18, NATO planned to discuss the applications submitted by the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden for the inclusion of these countries in the number of members of the alliance. However, due to Ankara's position, negotiations did not start. The Turkish side has made it clear that it cannot now approve their start, quoted TASS as saying. DPA
The hitch casts doubt on NATO's ability to approve applications from Finland and Sweden at the first stage of consideration within one to two weeks, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previously said, the Financial Times notes.
Update. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic is going to send a letter with instructions to the republic's ambassador to NATO, Mario Nobilo, to vote against Finland and Sweden joining the alliance until the electoral law is changed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- On May 18, in Brussels, Stoltenberg received applications from the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden for these countries to join the military alliance. Both countries decided to abandon their neutral status amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Applications will be considered by the NATO Council, and then the membership agreement between Sweden and Finland must be ratified by all 30 member countries of the alliance. Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he did not see "positive" in the plans of Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.
- According to Bloomberg, the Turkish authorities have put forward a list of conditions on which they will agree to approve the entry of Finland and Sweden. Among them are the recognition by these countries of the PKK as a terrorist organization, as well as the lifting of restrictions imposed on Ankara due to the purchase of Russian S-400 systems in 2019.