Sweden, Finland and Türkiye hold NATO talks, agree to more meetings

Türkiye has acknowledged that Sweden and Finland have taken concrete steps to meet Ankara's concerns over their bids to join NATO and the three will hold further meetings, Sweden's chief negotiator in the accession process said on Thursday.

"We see that Türkiye recognized that both Sweden and Finland have taken concrete steps in this agreement, which is a good sign," chief negotiator Oscar Stenstrom told a news conference at NATO headquarters after trilateral talks.

He said that the three countries would hold further meetings, but that no date had been set.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın, for his part, said that the talks were positive.

"It is our natural right to expect our allies and other friendly countries to take similar steps regarding Türkiye's security concerns, just as we take the security concerns of other NATO member countries and other non-NATO friendly and allied countries seriously, and immediately act relentlessly against the threats they face," Ibrahim Kalin told reporters at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Kalin's remarks came after a trilateral mechanism meeting between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden to discuss developments about the implementation of the commitments made in the June 2022 trilateral memorandum in NATO Madrid Summit.

He said the meeting was held in a "positive" atmosphere.

Some steps of Finland and Sweden in some areas are "satisfactory," which Türkiye welcomes, Kalin said, adding: "Of course, the process is not finished yet.

"We also expressed our expectation that the necessary legal, judicial, administrative, and intelligence steps should be taken, especially in order to prevent terrorist financing, recruitment, propaganda of terrorism, and incitement to violence."

Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid to address Ankara's legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.

The memorandum addresses Türkiye's concerns, including arms exports and the fight against terrorism.

Only Hungary and Türkiye have not yet ratified Sweden's and Finland's requests for inclusion in NATO.

Sweden's new anti-terror legislation will target the financing, aiding, and propagation of terror groups. Traveling abroad to join or assist a terror group will also be penalized if the law goes into effect.

Ankara has been demanding Stockholm to take concrete actions to combat terror groups PKK and Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.

Sweden then passed an anti-terror law last November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm's bid to join NATO. Türkiye says the adopted laws were not sufficient enough and nothing much had been done to stop the activities of the terror groups.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the EU, and the US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.