NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Thursday said that Sweden's membership in the Alliance "is within reach," noting that he will convene a meeting in Vilnius, southeast Lithuania, on Monday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as the next step in the process.
"We have seen demonstrations against Turkiye, and against NATO, in Sweden. They want to stop Sweden from joining NATO. The only people who benefit from these provocations are those who want to divide NATO," he said.
Stoltenberg was speaking at a press conference this afternoon after hosting a meeting with senior officials from Finland, Turkiye and Sweden at NATO headquarters focused on Sweden's membership in NATO.
"Any further delay in Sweden's membership would be welcomed by the PKK and President Putin," he said.
Stoltenberg, however, side-stepped a question on the widespread condemnation in Turkiye and the Muslim world of the recent burning of the Holy Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm, and if this could pose a risk to Sweden's membership in NATO. "The only way to solve those differences is by doing what we always do in NATO. And that is to sit down to consult and to find a way forward, and we made good progress in the meeting today. "It is absolutely possible to have a positive decision at the (NATO) summit next week. And we all agree that the finalization, the ratification of Swedish membership into NATO should happen as soon as possible" he said.
"No other Ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkiye. PKK is a terrorist organization. They're also involved in organized crimes in many NATO allied countries," he said.
Finland and Sweden had applied last year to join NATO following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
Finland joined NATO in April, but Turkiye vetoed Sweden's membership citing its support to terrorist groups like PKK and for not taking firm action against anti-Islam demonstrations like burning of the Holy Quran.
Today's meeting of senior officials included foreign ministers Elina Valtonen - from Finland, Hakan Fidan - from Turkiye, and Tobias Billstrom - from Sweden.
Source: Kuwait News Agency