Turkey Says Progress Made Toward Fin/Swe NATO Accession But Issues Remain

International Relations expert Samuel Ramani writes: "Turkey says there is progress towards NATO accession for Sweden and Finland, and praised Sweden's tougher stance on terrorism Freezing of Turkish-designated terrorist assets and the extradition issue remain problematic."

• Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters yesterday after a trilateral meeting with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts: “The statements [coming out of Sweden] are good, the determination is good but we need to see concrete steps. We told them we haven’t seen concrete steps on these issues.”
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “Turkey, Sweden and Finland are engaging directly as well as with NATO to make sure that Turkey’s concerns are fully addressed, including concerns about its security. That process has been moving, moving forward. And I’m very confident and
  again, based on what I’ve heard these last couple of days, that Finland and Sweden will soon be formally new members of the alliance.”
• Turkey's ratification of the accession protocols remains the final obstacle to the Nordic countries formally joining NATO. Hungary this month dropped its block on the bid and will hold a parliamentary vote on accession next year.