NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Monday welcomed Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s agreement to forward the accession protocol for Sweden to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible, and work closely with the Assembly to ensure ratification.
The announcement came following a meeting between the NATO chief, President Erdogan, and Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson in Vilnius at the eve of NATO summit, according to a NATO statement tonight.
“The memorandum concluded a year ago at the Madrid summit has delivered,” said Stoltenberg.
“It has delivered more in our fight against terrorism, more security for Turkiye and a stronger NATO”.
He noted that Sweden and Turkiye have worked closely together since NATO’s 2022 Summit in Madrid to address Turkiye’s legitimate security concerns, and that as part of that process, Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Turkiye.
“Sweden’s cooperation with Turkiye in the fight against terrorism will continue beyond accession,” he said, welcoming that Sweden and Turkiye agreed today to establish a new bilateral Security Compact.
“Completing Sweden’s accession to NATO is an historic step that benefits the security of all NATO Allies at this critical time. It makes us all stronger and safer,” added Stoltenberg.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
