Turkey's issues with Finland can be solved before Madrid Summit - FM
Finland's Foreign Minister says Turkey's objections to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO can be resolved before the NATO summit in Madrid.
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Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto
Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Friday that Turkey's objections to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO can be resolved.
He further added that it is very important for his country that this happens before the NATO summit in Madrid, which is scheduled in June.
“We think that these problems can be solved which Turkey has been raising and it's probably very important that some results could be achieved before the Madrid summit which is an important moment for NATO and also for us as applicant countries in the end of June,” Haavisto said during a press briefing.
In a related context, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he is confident that Sweden and Finland will soon become NATO members.
“The United States fully supports Finland and Sweden joining the alliance, and I continue to be confident that both countries will soon be NATO allies,” Blinken said.
On Wednesday, Sweden and Finland held talks pertaining to their accession to NATO with their Turkish counterpart in Ankara. Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal spearheaded the Turkish delegation, while State Secretary Oscar Stenstrom and Permanent State Secretary Jukka Salovaara headed the Swedish and Finnish delegations, respectively.
Sweden and Finland's negotiations with Turkey have been constructive, said the Finnish Foreign Ministry. In turn, Kalin confirmed that both Sweden and Finland understood Turkey's security concerns regarding their NATO membership.
