ANKARA, May 27 (Reuters) – Talks between Turkish officials and delegations from Sweden and Finland this week in Turkey have made little progress in overcoming Ankara’s objections to the Nordic countries’ accession to NATO, and still it is unclear when further discussions will take place, he said. two sources.
“It’s not an easy process,” a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Friday. “Specific steps need to be taken that will be difficult. Negotiations will continue. But a date does not seem very close.”
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO last week to increase security in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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The 30 NATO members must approve the enlargement plans. But Turkey has challenged the move, saying the Nordic countries are hosting people linked to what it calls terrorist groups and because they have stopped arms exports to Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday that his country expects Sweden and Finland to take concrete action and suspend such support before raising their objections. Read more
A close friend said Wednesday’s talks made no clear progress and ended without a timetable to continue, raising the possibility that Turkey will still oppose bids for membership when NATO hold a summit from June 29 to 30 in Madrid.
The Swedish and Finnish Foreign Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
The five-hour talks were cordial and included separate sessions between Turkish officials and counterparts from the two Nordic countries, followed by three-way talks with all parties, the second source added.
A third source told Reuters that Turkish officials downplayed the prospect of reaching an agreement ahead of the Madrid summit.
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Report by Orhan Coskun and Jonathan Spicer Editing by Daren Butler and Frances Kerry
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