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Added on the 08/11/2022 16:11:46 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
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
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, welcomes his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinistö, with an official welcoming ceremony in the Turkish capital, Ankara. The Finnish president's visit comes as the Russia-bordering Scandinavian country hopes to receive the green light from Turkey to join NATO. IMAGES
The hold-up follows Ankara announcing it would not back Sweden's NATO bid following an anti-Turkey protest in Stockholm. Finland, it seems, is reassessing its options but still insist joining with Sweden is the number one option.
President Sauli Niniisto of Finland and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden meet with their Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid in a bid to get Erdogan to drop objections to them joining the US-led defence alliance. Erdogan has refused to greenlight the applications from the Nordic pair despite calls from his NATO allies to clear the path for them to enter. IMAGES
Ankara, which has been hostile to Swedish membership of NATO in particular, halted negotiations in January after anti-Turkish demonstrations in Stockholm.