The Secretary-General of NATO stated that a tripartite meeting is expected to be held between Turkey, Finland and Sweden in the middle of next March in Brussels, to discuss the accession of the two northern countries to the alliance, pointing out that the meeting will be held under the auspices of NATO.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Friday that a tripartite meeting between Turkey, Finland and Sweden will be held in Brussels in mid-March to discuss the accession of the two northern countries to the alliance.
This came in a joint press conference held by Stoltenberg with Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas and European Commission President Von der Leyen, in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Kallas had received NATO and European Union officials on the one-year anniversary of the Russian war against Ukraine, which also coincides with Estonia's Independence Day (Estonian National Day).
Stoltenberg said that he had "good" discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara, last week, and they agreed to "resume talks and hold a tripartite meeting between Finland, Sweden and Turkey, at NATO headquarters in mid-March."
He added that the meeting will be held under the auspices of NATO, and will focus on "how to complete the process of joining the two countries" to the alliance.
In the context, Stoltenberg welcomed the start of the Hungarian parliament next week's process of ratification of the protocol on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
On June 28, 2022, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding regarding the accession of the latter two countries to NATO, after they pledged to respond to Ankara's demands regarding cooperation in the fight against terrorism.