Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden have signed Tuesday a memorandum on the Nordic countries’ NATO bids after the four-way talks in Madrid.
Secretary General Stoltenberg announced the the signing of this trilateral memorandum during a press conference.
Stoltenberg said: “I strongly welcome the signing of this trilateral memorandum, and I strongly welcome the constructive approach all three countries have shown during the negotiations. Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO is good for Finland and Sweden, it is good for NATO, and it is good for European security.”
Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto, and Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have meet to discussed the Nordic countries’ bids to join the alliance and Ankara’s concerns regarding the matter.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join the alliance last month, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terror groups.
Stoltenberg has constantly said that Türkiye has “legitimate concerns related to their fight against the PKK terrorist group and other organizations,” and that the PKK is considered a terror organization by NATO, the EU, as well as Finland and Sweden.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
-AA