Cape Town – Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Sunday he is in contact with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the leaders of Finland and Sweden to overcome Turkey’s opposition to the two Scandanavian countries joining the alliance.
“I remain in close contact with you and with our colleagues in Sweden and with our ally Turkey on the way ahead,” Stoltenberg told reporters at Finnish President Sauli Niinistö’s summer residence in Kultaranta.
Turkey had blocked the two Scandinavian countries' bids to join Nato, with Erdogan accusing Sweden of being a “hatchery” for terrorist organisations.
According to Sputnik News, Stoltenberg described Turkey’s concerns as “legitimate”, with Turkey also calling out Sweden and Finland for refusing to extradite people Ankara has accused of terrorism for having suspected links to Kurdish insurgency.
Furthermore, the dispute is expected to be resolved at the upcoming Nato summit in Madrid on June 29.
“At the same time I would like it to be solved as soon as possible, and therefore we are working with our Nato ally Turkey and also with Finland and Sweden,” said Stoltenberg.
Meanwhile, Stoltenberg said peace in Ukraine is still possible and emphasised Nato’s goal to “preserve peace” and not to “provoke, but to prevent conflict”.
The Nato leader is set to travel to Sweden on Monday for further discussions with that country's leaders.
IOL