Turkish president, Swedish premier to meet on Monday: NATO chief

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that he will convene a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson next week.

Speaking at a news conference following the fifth meeting of a permanent joint mechanism between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden in Brussels, Stoltenberg said they agreed that accession of Sweden to NATO is in the security interest of all allies.

He also said they want to complete Stockholm's full membership "as soon as possible."

"In next week's NATO summit, we will recommit to fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Stoltenberg added.

The NATO chief said he will convene a meeting with Erdogan and Kristersson on Monday in Vilnius, Lithuania "as the next step in this process."

On the conviction by Sweden for first time of a PKK terror group sympathizer for firearms offense and attempted terror financing, Stoltenberg said it is an example of how organized crime in Sweden is closely linked to terrorist organizations in Türkiye.

Responding to a question by Anadolu on recent reactions worldwide to Sweden over the burning of Islam’s holy book, the Quran, last week in front of a Stockholm mosque, and whether he thinks Sweden could have an effective counterterrorism mechanism or would it be a burden on NATO, Stoltenberg said Sweden "has followed up on their commitments" under the trilateral memorandum.

He said that the reason why they met today is "to bridge the gap we still see."

The fifth meeting of a permanent joint mechanism was hosted by Stoltenberg and attended by delegations from Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden.

It came ahead of the Vilnius summit of NATO leaders on July 11-12.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership soon after Russia launched a war in Ukraine in February 2022.

Although Türkiye approved Finland's membership to NATO, it is waiting for Sweden to abide by a trilateral memorandum signed in June 2022 in Madrid to address Ankara's security concerns.

Sweden passed an anti-terror law in November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm's bid to join NATO. The new law, effective as of June 1, allows authorities to prosecute individuals who support terrorist groups.