Turkiye says it will meet Finland, Sweden in August to evaluate terror-related pledges

Officials from Turkiye, Finland and Sweden will meet in August to evaluate the progress made in fulfilling Ankara’s counter-terrorism demands from the Nordic countries to lift its veto on their NATO membership bid, Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Finland and Sweden have applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but were faced with opposition from Turkiye, which accused them of supporting groups it deems terrorists.

The three countries signed an Accord last month to lift Ankara’s veto, in exchange for promises on counter-terrorism and arms exports.

Speaking to state broadcaster TRT Haber, Cavusoglu said the meeting in August would be the first of a monitoring committee formed under the Accord, but repeated that Turkiye would block the Nordic countries’ memberships if they did not keep their promises.

READ: NATO chief, Sweden PM address Turkiye’s opposition to NATO accession