NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. File photoBRUSSELS, June 12The June 28-30 NATO summit in Madrid is not a deadline for resolving Turkey's questions regarding the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining the alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. was the deadline,» Stoltenberg said at a press conference during a visit to Finland, answering a question about the blocking by Turkey and the possibility of resolving this issue in Madrid. The press conference was broadcast on the alliance's website.
The United States explained how NATO uses Sweden and Finland against Russia»I would like it to be resolved as soon as possible. We are actively working with our NATO member Turkey, as well as Finland and Sweden, to answer these questions that Turkey has raised. These are legitimate concerns. This concerns terrorism, this concerns arms exports,» Stoltenberg said. Finland and Sweden, amid the events in Ukraine, on May 18 handed over to the NATO Secretary General an application for joining the alliance. Turkey has blocked the start of the process of consideration of these applications. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara cannot say «yes» to the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, because it cannot believe their assurances about relations with representatives of the Kurdistan Workers' Party banned in Turkey.
