STOCKHOLM: The foreign ministers of Sweden and Türkiye will meet “soon” to discuss Stockholm’s delayed bid to join NATO, the Swedish foreign ministry said on Monday (May 29).
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022. However, while Finland joined the Western military alliance in April, Sweden’s bid has been held up by objections from Türkiye and Hungary.
Türkiye’s presidential election, won by incumbent Tayyip Erdogan after a run-off vote on Sunday, has complicated the process.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom initially told broadcaster SVT on Monday he would meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday at a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo.
“But we have been informed that Türkiye’s foreign minister is not coming, so there won’t be any meeting there,” a spokesperson for Billstrom said, adding that the meeting would nevertheless take place “soon”.
Source: CNA
