Stoltenberg expects a Swedish NATO deal following more negotiations. After meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg indicated a Sweden-NATO agreement might be completed in time for a summit in Lithuania next month.
He also said Turkey, Sweden, and Finland would meet later this month to resolve Turkey and Hungary’s objections to Sweden’s NATO membership application.
Erdogan met with Stoltenberg in Istanbul a week after extending his two-decade rule in an election.
According to political observers, Erdogan, who tried to mediate between Russia and the West in the Ukraine war, was unlikely to decide on Sweden’s NATO membership before the election.
In an interview with Reuters, Stoltenberg said a solution must be reached before the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
In March, Turkey endorsed Finland’s NATO membership bid, but Hungary and Turkey opposed Sweden’s. NATO expansion has long threatened Russia’s security.
Turkey claims Stockholm harbors terrorists.
“Sweden has taken significant concrete steps to meet Turkey’s concerns,” Stoltenberg told reporters, citing a constitutional amendment and increased counter-terrorism cooperation.
Stoltenberg told a news conference that Finland, Sweden, and Turkey officials would meet on June 12 to resolve difficulties. Brussels hosts NATO defense ministers June 15-16.
The banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) banner was projected on Stockholm’s parliament building during anti-NATO protests during Turkey’s May elections.
Stoltenberg said protests were legal.
“We need to distinguish clearly between protest and act of terrorism,” he stated. “Supporting and financing terrorist organizations is illegal, but demonstrating and being against NATO and individual NATO allies is part of democratic values which all should protect.”
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