Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu To Discuss NATO Membership With Fin/Swe Counterparts

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will hold talks on NATO accession with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts tomorrow on the margins on the NATO foreign ministerial in Bucharest, Romania.

• Çavuşoğlu told reporters in Ankara today: “We will meet with Sweden and Finland’s foreign ministers tomorrow in Bucharest under a trilateral format.”
• Turkey ratification of the NATO accession protocols in the final obstacle remaining for the Nordic nations to formally enter NATO as full member states.
• The pending ratification remains stalled due to a perceived lack of action from Stockholm addressing tacit support for Kurdish militant groups, including the PKK, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the EU, the US, and Turkey.
• Çavuşoğlu continued: “Sweden and Finland are yet to take concrete steps under the trilateral memorandum,” stating that Sweden must follow through on pledges to implement reforms.
• The other holdout, Hungary, indicated earlier this month that Budapest no longer opposes Sweden and Finland joining NATO will hold a vote on ratifying the protocols during the first session of the National Assembly, next year.