"NATO membership of all three of these countries - Turkey, Sweden and Finland - is essential, " said Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvian Foreign Minister in a interview with nra.lv, APA reports.
Answering the journalist's question about the possibility of joining NATO two other countries - Sweden and Finland - without Turkey, the Latvian minister said that such speculations are not true.
"I would say that it would not be wise to dramatize the situation; there are issues that are important for Turkey, both arms export controls and countries that restrict trade with Turkey. There are also issues concerning terrorist organizations. There are those that are important for Turkey's security, and there are discussions about which particular organizations should be considered as such, "Rinkēvičs said.
"I would hope that a solution will be found that takes into account Turkey's legitimate security interests and the important contribution that Finnish and Swedish membership would create to the Alliance, not only to the Baltic Sea region, but also to the Alliance as a whole. But as far as the Alliance as such is concerned, the participation of all these three countries - Turkey, Sweden and Finland - is essential for Latvia's security interests, "Latvian Foreign Minister Rinkēvičs said.
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