Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that talks with Sweden and Finland on their bids to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Western military alliance would resume on March 9, although he said Sweden it has not yet fulfilled its obligations under a memorandum signed last year.
Turkey canceled talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids in January after a far-right Danish politician burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
“My colleagues will participate in the meeting to be held on March 9,” Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Ankara, adding that the meeting will be held in Brussels.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the North Atlantic defense alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine, but Sweden in particular has faced unexpected objections from Turkey.
Ankara accuses Stockholm of hosting those it considers members of terrorist groups.
Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed a memorandum on steps towards Turkish ratification at a NATO summit in Madrid in 2022.
“Unfortunately, we have not seen satisfactory steps from Sweden in implementing the Madrid memorandum,” Cavusoglu said. “It is not possible for us to say ‘yes’ to Sweden’s candidacy for NATO before seeing these steps.”
The Swedish government plans to formally deliberate on March 9 on a long-planned proposal to make it illegal to join or support a terrorist organization. Stockholm intends the legislation to take effect on June 1, although no date has been set for a parliamentary vote on the bill.
Source: Terra
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