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Added on the 18/05/2022 14:39:58 - Copyright : AFP EN
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcome Turkey's decision to push ahead with ratifying Finland's membership, and says Sweden should also be allowed to join as soon as possible. "The most important thing is that both Finland and Sweden become full members of NATO quickly, not whether they join at exactly the same time," Stoltenberg said. SOUNDBITE
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will back Sweden's NATO candidacy if the European Union resumes membership talks with Ankara. "Open the way to Turkey's membership of the European Union" he says, speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, "and then we will open it for Sweden". Erdogan's comments come on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he would only back Sweden's NATO candidacy if the European Union resumes long-stalled membership talks with Ankara.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg calls on Ankara to drop its opposition to Sweden's bid to join the defence alliance, saying Stockholm has addressed Turkey's security concerns and "fulfilled its obligations". Turkey has dragged its feet over admitting Sweden into the alliance, with President Erdogan accusing the country of being a haven for "terrorists", especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies. Stoltenberg explains that Sweden has progressed in "stepping up counter-terrorism cooperation, including against the PKK." SOUNDBITE
The US's top diplomat has said the “time is now” for Turkey to back Sweden's NATO membership bid.
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