Türkiye agrees to move ahead with Sweden’s NATO bid: Stoltenberg
Vilnius, The Gulf Observer: Türkiye has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius.
“I’m glad to announce … that President Erdogan has agreed 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,” Stoltenberg told a news conference on Monday.
Stoltenberg declined to give a date for when Sweden’s accession would be ratified by the Turkish parliament, the grand national assembly, which would decide on the exact timing.
Türkiye’s approval came after Stockholm agreed to establish a bilateral security mechanism with Ankara, Stoltenberg said. Sweden will also support Türkiye’s EU process, visa liberalisation and efforts to update Customs Union, he added.
He said NATO was establishing, for the first time, the post of Special Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.
Sweden reiterated it will not support terrorist organisations YPG/PYD and FETO, a joint statement said after the meeting between Türkiye, Sweden, and the NATO chief.
