NATO Secretary General Statement on Turkey
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen made a joint press statement ahead of the trilateral meeting.
Stating that they welcomed Turkey’s decision to start the approval process for Finland’s NATO accession protocol in Turkey’s Grand National Assembly, Stoltenberg said: “I hope that Parliament will make a quick decision on ratification.” he used the phrase.
“WE WILL KEEP WORKING HARD”
Recalling that Finland and Sweden jointly applied for NATO membership and that all NATO allies invited these two countries to join the alliance at the summit last year, Stoltenberg said: “We welcome the progress made in completing Finland’s approval and we will continue to work hard. Ensuring that Sweden becomes a full member in the near future will be a top priority.” he said.
“THAT IS REVERSE”
Noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine with the aim of having less NATO in Europe, Stoltenberg said: “The opposite is happening. There will be more NATO in Europe. The fact that both Finland and Sweden have applied and been invited to become full members proves this.” he performed the assessment of it.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said that Finland and Sweden are already in a much better position than before the application, due to the fact that these countries have achieved a “new status” in their relations with NATO when they were invited. .
Stoltenberg stressed that he hopes both countries will become full members of NATO.
“WE CONSIDER SWEDEN AS OUR CLOSE PARTNER”
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto thanked Stoltenberg for his support during the NATO membership process, saying: “I think our efforts are really appreciated. We visited Ankara last week and heard President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s commitment that our application will be sent to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for approval.” he used the phrase.
Haavisto stressed that they welcome Turkey’s decision and await the approval of the Hungarian parliament.
Underlining that the process will be accelerated with the approval of Turkey and Hungary, Haavisto said: “We see Sweden as our closest partner. We applied for NATO membership together. We hope to attend the summit to be held in Vilnius in July as member states.” he said.
Stating that they did not consider Finland’s NATO membership “complete” until Sweden became part of the union, Haavisto said: “Finns are security-oriented people and we are very grateful to countries that guarantee our security during the application process”. saying.
Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen also reminded that there are positive developments regarding his country’s NATO membership, saying: “Of course, we expected Sweden to become a member at the same time, but this is not possible. now. The sooner the better. That is why we must work hard to get Sweden to become a member as soon as possible.” he performed the assessment of it.
Emphasizing that Finland has a strong defense infrastructure, Kaikkonen said: “We contribute to the security of Northern Europe. This is a ‘win-win’ situation. Both NATO and Finland are winning. This also applies to Sweden.” he used his statements. (AA)