29/11/2023–|Last updated: 11/30/202312:05 AM (Mecca time)
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Wednesday that Turkey had informed his country that it expected to ratify its long-delayed accession to the EU. NATO (NATO) “Within weeks,” but Turkey denied setting a time frame for making this decision.
Billstrom confirmed – in statements to reporters before the second day of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting – that he “held a bilateral meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister.” Hakan FidanHe informed him that he expected the ratification process to be completed within weeks.
He added, “The Turkish Foreign Minister did not specify a date, but he said that he expected the ratification to take place during this period.”
Turkish denial
Turkey denied that it had set a time frame for ratifying Sweden’s accession to the alliance, and a Turkish diplomatic source said that the Turkish Foreign Minister did not comment on the issue of the time frame for Sweden’s joining the alliance during the bilateral talks.
The source added that Fidan told his counterparts on the sidelines of the NATO meeting, “The Turkish parliament will agree to ratify Sweden’s accession to the alliance,” without the minister going into details.
Turkey had suspended its approval of Sweden’s request to join the alliance, after it and Finland submitted a request to join last year following the Russian war on Ukraine, under the pretext of “the two countries providing protection for terrorist groups.”
Ankara ratified Finland’s accession last April, while keeping Sweden’s application pending.
