NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Türkiye, Finland and Sweden will hold a meeting to discuss the NATO accession of the two Nordic countries in March, the alliance chief highlighted Friday, indicating progress in the accession bids.
Stoltenberg addressed the joint news conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Tallinn, Estonia, saying he "had good discussions with President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan" during his visit to Ankara last week.
"We agreed to restart the talks and to convene a trilateral meeting between Finland, Sweden and Türkiye at NATO headquarters in mid-March under my auspices," he reiterated.
The parties will discuss "how to complete the accession process" of both states.
He noted that "this has been the quickest accession process in NATO's modern history" since Sweden and Finland applied for membership last May last year, and NATO leaders decided to invite them only a month later at their Madrid summit.
"The most important thing is not whether Finland and Sweden join exactly at the same time. The most important thing is that they join as soon as possible," Stoltenberg stressed.
The NATO chief said Thursday he saw progress in stalled talks with Türkiye on Sweden's membership after the two countries went through high tensions due to anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam protests in Stockholm recently.
Stoltenberg, who met Erdoğan last week in Ankara, sounded more upbeat on the topic than in past months.
"I see progress," he said in an interview with Reuters. "I aim to have Finland and Sweden as full members by the NATO summit," due to take place in Lithuania from July 11-12.
Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned decades of nonalignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required.
Ankara accuses Stockholm of harboring members of terrorist groups and has demanded their extradition as a step toward giving Sweden's NATO membership its green light.
Talks between Finland, Sweden, and Türkiye have been stalled since January after a copy of the Quran was burned outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm by Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line.
Türkiye and Hungary are the only NATO allies that have not yet ratified the membership of Finland and Sweden, though Budapest has said it aims to take that step for both countries in early March.
Despite the outstanding ratification, Stoltenberg said that both Nordic states were safer than before their NATO application.
"As part of the accession process, several NATO allies, including the United States, have issued bilateral security assurances," he said.
"So it's inconceivable that Finland or Sweden will face any military threats from Russia without NATO reacting," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there would be no threat to Russia if Sweden and Finland joined NATO. However, Moscow would respond if the U.S.-led alliance bolstered the military infrastructure in the two Nordic countries.
He has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastward toward his borders as a reason for Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but criticizes Stockholm for not acting against elements posing a security threat to Ankara.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary to gain NATO membership.
Ankara has long criticized Stockholm for housing members of various terrorist organizations, particularly members of the PKK and, in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) – the organization behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.
Ahead of a historic NATO summit, the three countries signed a trilateral deal in June that prevented a Turkish veto. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for terrorists. In addition, the joint directive states that Finland and Sweden “will not provide support to ... the organization described as FETÖ” and terrorist groups."
Meanwhile, on Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that unless Türkiye's concerns regarding Sweden's entry are allayed, NATO expansion could fail.
Speaking on public radio, Orban said he had asked lawmakers of his nationalist Fidesz party to support their bid, adding that some deputies were "not very enthusiastic" about the expansion and sought further discussions on the matter.
Orban added that in the end, it should be made clear that Hungary supports Finland and Sweden's NATO membership but said Türkiye's concerns regarding Sweden's entry should also be heard; otherwise, the expansion effort could fail.
"Regarding Türkiye, they are also our allies, and therefore we need to hear their voice," Orban said.
A senior Hungarian lawmaker said that Hungary plans to send a delegation to Sweden and Finland to resolve “political disputes” that have raised doubts among some Hungarian lawmakers about whether to support the two Nordic nations' applications to join.
Mate Kocsis, the head of the nationalist Fidesz party's parliamentary caucus, said during a news briefing that a “serious debate” had emerged within the caucus over the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland, according to state news agency MTI.
Some ruling party lawmakers, he said, resented that “politicians from these countries have insulted Hungary in a crude, unfounded, and often the vulgar manner in recent years, and now they are asking for a favor.”
A parliamentary delegation will travel to Sweden and Finland seeking to clarify their positions, Kocsis said. However, he said the trip was not expected to delay the Hungarian parliament’s debate, set to begin next week, on ratifying the NATO applications.
Kocsis said Thursday that he was committed to admitting the two countries but that some in his Fidesz party were divided. Some argued that NATO's expansion “could represent an escalation in the existing conflict.”
"Fundamentally, we are committed to maintaining, enlarging, and strengthening both NATO and the European community,” Kocsis said.
