Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin expressed her hope that Turkey will agree to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as soon as possible.
She stated this on Friday before the start of an informal summit of the leaders of the European Union in the Czech capital of Prague.
She added that she had discussed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Prague on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit the issue of Finland’s accession to NATO.
She explained that her country has always pursued a balanced policy towards Turkey and discussed the issue of its entry into NATO before the NATO leaders’ summit in Madrid.
She added that her country was fulfilling its obligations under the Memorandum of Understanding concluded with Turkey, expressing her hope that Ankara would agree to her country’s accession as soon as possible.
Marin declined to comment on the talks between Turkey and Sweden, adding that she supports Finland and Sweden joining NATO on the same day as it is related to the security of Northern Europe.
For her part, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that she had a good dialogue with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In her statements to the Swedish news agency after meeting with the Turkish President on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Prague, she reaffirmed her country’s commitment to the tripartite memorandum of understanding signed between Sweden, Finland and Turkey during the NATO Summit in Madrid.
In this regard, she pointed out that Sweden lifted the arms embargo on Turkey as part of the memorandum.
She confirmed that the Swedish government, which will be formed next week, will also continue to abide by the memorandum, explaining that she spoke with Erdogan about forming a new government, knowing that the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, Andreas Norlan, had instructed Moderate Party leader Ulf Kriterson to form a new government. .
At the end of June, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding regarding the two countries’ membership in NATO, in which they committed to fully cooperate with Ankara in the fight against terrorist organizations.
Source: agencies