18 May 2022, Wednesday, 21:43 667

Turkey Blocks Talks On Sweden And Finland Joining NATO - Media

Редактор: Tetiana Herasimova

Turkey initially blocked the start of negotiations on joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of Finland and Sweden. This was reported by the German edition of Tagesspiegel on Wednesday, May 18, with reference to sources in NATO.

The publication indicated that the NATO Council failed to make the decision necessary to start the process of accession of Sweden and Finland. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that for Turkey, the expansion of the Alliance "goes hand in hand with respect for its sensitivity."

"Sweden and Finland want to continue to support "terrorist organizations," but at the same time want Turkey to approve NATO membership. To put it mildly, this is a contradiction," the Turkish President emphasized.

Erdogan also said that NATO is a security association, and should remain so.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on May 18, Finland and Sweden at NATO headquarters in Brussels officially applied to join NATO.

On May 16, Finnish President Sauli Niiniste and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that the country was applying to join NATO. On the same day, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said the country was also applying for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

At the same time, on May 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Federation does not see an "immediate threat" from Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Больше новостей о: NATO Turkey Sweden Finland NATO membership North Atlantic Treaty Organization President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan joining NATO

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