Türkiye expects Finland and Sweden to take concrete steps on the memorandum signed for their NATO bid Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavushoglu said on Sept. 14, stressing that Sweden has already left the elections behind so that its new government can take steps in line with the Madrid deal, APA reports citing Daily News.
“Elections were held in Sweden. The new government must take necessary steps,” Chavushoglu told a group of reporters.
They are aware that otherwise, the Turkish parliament will not ratify their application to NATO, he added.
Recalling the first meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism, established within the framework of the Tripartite Memorandum signed by Türkiye, Finland and Sweden at the NATO summit in Madrid, the minister said the outcome of the discussions put forth that no concrete steps were taken by the Nordic countries regarding their promises.
Chavushoglu pointed to the fact that Sweden could hardly take a step to meet the memorandum before the elections, but as the polls are now left behind Ankara expects the Nordic country to move on the requirements of the deal.
He said Türkiye does not act under a time constraint, but it was up to the Nordic countries to move on the consensus in order to proceed with their NATO membership application.
The Nordic countries earlier stated that they raised the need for amendments in their laws to meet Türkiye’s expectation of extradition of “terror group members,” he said.
On June 28, the trio signed a trilateral memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid which envisaged Finland and Sweden showing full solidarity and cooperation with Türkiye in the fight against terrorism, especially the PKK, YPG and FETÖ, and extradition of their members.
Chavushoglu stated that some circles had criticized Türkiye’s policies over the past years, but now they appreciate those policies. “For example, those who said, ‘What are you doing in Libya?’ Now say, especially after the last crisis, ‘I’m glad there is Türkiye there. Türkiye is the guarantee and insurance of stability there.’” he said.
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