Stoltenberg Convenes Special Session To Address Turkish Security Concerns

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is holding a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson to announce new measures to appease Turkey ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid this week.

• Livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAomwUHWSUU
• The NATO accession plans of Sweden and Finland are currently being blocked by Turkey over concerns that the two Nordic states are harbouring Kurdish terrorist elements.
• Stoltenberg says that he has convened a "special session" at the NATO summit to discuss counter-terrorism with a view to addressing Ankara's "legitimate security demands."
• Stoltenberg says: "Sweden has taken concrete steps in recent days to address Turkish concerns. You have launched new police investigations against the PKK. These concrete steps represent a paradigm shift in Sweden's approach to terrorism. We are now working together on an agreement between Sweden, Finland, and Turkey to further address security concerns."
• The Secretary General's comments suggest that a deal may be closer than assumed when Turkish President Recep Erdogan told the Turkish parliament, last week, that the process may take years.
• Andersson says that Sweden is currently undergoing the biggest military buildup in the country since the 1950s.
• Andersson says that an agreement will ideally be achieved before the summit which begins on June 29.