US: Turkey’s NATO issues with Sweden, Finland might be mounted

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Friday he’s assured Turkey’s objections to Finland and Sweden joining NATO could be overcome swiftly, presumably in time for a summit of alliance leaders at the end of next month.

At a information conference in Washington with visiting Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Blinken mentioned the U.S. has no reason to consider Turkey’s considerations can't be addressed. His comments came after Turkey’s top diplomat said Finland and Sweden must take “concrete steps” before Ankara could assist their membership.

“The United States fully helps Finland and Sweden joining the alliance and I continue to be confident that both will quickly be NATO members,” Blinken mentioned. “We look ahead to with the ability to call Finland and Sweden our allies.”

Haavisto mentioned his country and Sweden had held “good negotiations” with the Turks over their considerations in latest days and mentioned these discussions would continue with an eye fixed toward resolving them before the NATO summit in Madrid at the finish of June.

“We agreed to continue to these talks,” Haavisto mentioned. “We predict that these problems will be solved that Turkey has been raising. We hope that some outcomes may very well be achieved earlier than the NATO summit.”

Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to affix NATO last week. The transfer represents one of many largest geopolitical ramifications of Russia’s battle in Ukraine and could rewrite Europe’s security map.

The international locations’ membership bids require help from all 30 present NATO nations, but Turkey, which instructions the second-largest military in the alliance, is objecting to them. It has cited alleged support for Kurdish militants whom Turkey considers terrorists and restrictions on weapons gross sales to Turkey.

Earlier Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated the Finnish and Swedish negotiating delegations had been given paperwork detailing Turkey’s considerations, like data on terror groups, during their visit to Turkey this week. He said Ankara is awaiting specific answers.

Cavusoglu mentioned “an approach of ‘we’ll persuade Turkey in time anyway, we're pals and allies’ would not be correct.” He insisted that “these countries must take concrete steps.”

He added that “we perceive Finland and Sweden’s security considerations however ... everyone additionally needs to understand Turkey’s reputable security concerns.”

Turkey this week listed five “concrete assurances” it was demanding from Sweden, including what it mentioned was “termination of political help for terrorism,” an “elimination of the supply of terrorism financing,” and the “cessation of arms assist” to the banned PKK and a Syrian Kurdish militia group affiliated with it.

The demands additionally known as for the lifting of arms sanctions against Turkey and world cooperation towards terrorism.

Cavusoglu’s comments got here at a information conference with the visiting international ministers of NATO allies Poland and Romania, both of whom expressed strong assist for Finland and Sweden’s bids.

“There isn't any doubt that we do want the accession of Sweden and Finland to the NATO alliance in an effort to make it stronger,” Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau mentioned.

Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, agreed, saying their membership would “consolidate the collective protection and our safety.”

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Observe the AP’s protection of the battle at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine