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Sweden says senior delegations not FM will visit Turkiye for NATO talks

May 17, 2022 at 2:54 pm

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde in Brussels, Belgium on 25 February 2022 [Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency]

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that senior representatives from Sweden and Finland and not the foreign ministers of both countries, will travel to Turkiye for talks to address Ankara’s objections to their NATO membership, Anadolu news agency reported.

Earlier yesterday, the ministry said Swedish Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, and her Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto, would visit Turkiye to discuss their countries’ plan to join NATO.

Linde told the Swedish News Agency that the diplomatic delegation will start its talks in Ankara this week.

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his country’s reservations about Sweden and Finland’s plans to join NATO. Speaking yesterday, he added that neither country has a “clear and unequivocal stance against terrorist organisations”, adding that Ankara cannot accept their accession to NATO at this stage.

He said there is no need for the delegations to come to Turkiye to try to discuss the matter.

READ: Erdogan says Swedish, Finnish delegations should not bother coming to Turkey