Sweden and Finland will continue negotiations with Turkey on their bids to join NATO in the near future, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Monday, adding that the talks will take some time
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2022) Sweden and Finland will continue negotiations with Turkey on their bids to join NATO in the near future, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Monday, adding that the talks will take some time.
Last week, the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing a source, that Turkey blocked the start of consideration of applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said that he cannot give a nod to the membership of the Nordic states in NATO due to their support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party and Kurdish YPG militia, which are designated as terrorist organizations by Ankara.
"Sweden and Finland will continue their bilateral and trilateral negotiations with Turkey in the near future, negotiations will take some time," Andersson said, as quoted by the Star newspaper.
Commenting on the talks with Erdogan over the weekend, the prime minister assessed them as positive. The leader added that she looks forward to further negotiations with Ankara, noting that Sweden is among the first states to label the Kurdistan Workers' Party as terrorists.
