Turkish foreign minister meets NATO chief in Brussels ahead of talks with Sweden, Finland

Turkish foreign minister meets NATO chief in Brussels ahead of talks with Sweden, Finland

The Turkish overseas minister held talks in Brussels with NATO’s prime official on Thursday, forward of the fifth assembly of a everlasting joint mechanism between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden.

Hakan Fidan and Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg met at NATO headquarters, hours earlier than the everlasting joint mechanism assembly that’s specializing in the progress made by Helsinki and Stockholm on counter-terrorism based mostly on a three-way settlement signed in June final 12 months.

The assembly will likely be hosted by Stoltenberg and attended by delegations from Finland, Sweden, and Türkiye, together with the Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın, Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akçapar, and Akif Çağatay Kılıç, the chief adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The assembly comes earlier than the NATO leaders convene a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11-12.

Finland and Sweden utilized for NATO membership quickly after Russia launched a struggle in Ukraine in February 2022.

Although Türkiye authorized Finland’s membership to NATO, it’s ready for Sweden to abide by a trilateral memorandum signed in June 2022 in Madrid to deal with Ankara’s safety considerations.

Sweden handed an anti-terror legislation in November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm’s bid to affix NATO. The new legislation, efficient as of June 1, permits authorities to prosecute people who assist terrorist teams.

Source: www.anews.com.tr