France: Turkey should make its choice on Sweden and Finland for NATO membership

In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland have asked to join NATO, but are facing opposition from Turkey.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna claimed that Ankara’s “behaviour” risked raising questions within NATO, saying that Turkey should “make its choice” for Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership.

Answering the question of the “Journal du Dimanche” newspaper published on Sundays in France, Colana said, “It is up to Turkey to make its choice in the face of its responsibilities regarding NATO. Does he want to strengthen the alliance or is he against it? This will raise questions about his behavior as a NATO member,” she said.

Noting that Turkey is an important member of NATO, Colonna said, “Finland and Sweden made a historic choice. Having both countries in NATO will be a plus for our security in Europe. These two countries are making an effort in negotiations with Turkey.” used the phrase.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a phone conversation with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday.

Andersson announced the phone conversation they had with Erdogan on his official Twitter page.

In his post, Andersson said, “Earlier today, we had a nice meeting with President Erdogan about Sweden’s NATO application. I look forward to meeting with President Erdogan and other allied country leaders at the NATO Summit to be held in Madrid next week."

In his meeting with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, Erdogan reportedly discussed the issues related to Sweden and Finland’s request for NATO membership.

Despite talks last Monday in Brussels between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, a quick unblocking of the two countries’ NATO candidacies promises to be complicated near an Alliance summit on June 28-30 in Madrid.

In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland have asked to join NATO, but are facing opposition from Turkey, according to Agerpres.

In particular, it accuses Sweden of harboring militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered by Ankara a “terrorist” organization.