Military Space News
SUPERPOWERS
NATO chief to push Sweden, Finland bids on Turkey visit
Reuters Events SMR and Advanced Reactor 2025
NATO chief to push Sweden, Finland bids on Turkey visit
by AFP Staff Writers
Brussels (AFP) Feb 15, 2023

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday he would push Turkey on ratifying Sweden and Finland's bids to join the Western alliance during an upcoming visit to offer support after the earthquakes.

He is set to fly to Ankara on Thursday and also head to the region devastated by the quakes last week.

Turkey's NATO counterparts have been pleading with Ankara to sign off on Sweden and Finland's stalled bid to become members.

Parliaments in all 30 members of the military alliance must formally ratify Finland and Sweden before they can be admitted. Turkey and Hungary are the only two NATO members not to have done this.

Ankara has suggested it could greenlight Finland's bid without accepting Nordic neighbour Sweden into the alliance.

Stoltenberg said the ball was in Turkey's court to move forward with the process.

"It is for Turkey to decide whether they ratify both and I have recommended that," Stoltenberg said.

"The sequencing is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that both Finland and Sweden and soon become members of the alliance and I'll push hard for that."

Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, and Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO in May last year in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey has been upset by Sweden's refusal to extradite dozens of suspects that Ankara links to outlawed Kurdish fighters and a failed 2016 coup attempt.

Ankara reacted with fury to a decision by the Swedish police to allow a protest at which a far-right extremist burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm last month.

Diplomats at NATO are still hopeful that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could wave through the ratifications if he secures re-election at the polls in May.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SUPERPOWERS
Ukraine war boosts NATO, but China concerns the US: think-tank
London (AFP) Feb 15, 2023
The conflict in Ukraine "has given NATO renewed purpose" and spurred Eastern Europe to ditch Soviet-era equipment, but China's military modernisation remains the United States' chief concern, a British think-tank said Wednesday. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said that around 20 countries in Europe "announced either immediate uplifts to defence spending or a stronger commitment to longer term spending goals" in 2022, in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine. In its ... read more

SUPERPOWERS
Germany to give Slovakia Mantis air defence systems

Advanced manufacturing powering development of Next Generation Interceptor

Kremlin keeps mum on missile systems seen on Moscow rooftops

Netherlands set to boost push for Patriot missile defenses in Ukraine

SUPERPOWERS
Russia fires dozens of missiles at Ukraine overnight: Kyiv

Final flight of HAWC Program screams through the sky

Ukraine leader says wants long-range missiles, jets from West

Ukraine missile toll rises to 40 as Russia denies attack

SUPERPOWERS
Oops -- US jet pilot misses mystery object with first missile

Japan says past aerial objects likely Chinese spy balloons

US still in dark over mystery flying objects, rejects China balloon accusation

Flying object mystery deepens in US as China accuses Washington

SUPERPOWERS
Multi aircraft and naval ships showcase interoperability

SES, ThinKom and Hughes enable multi-orbit resilient connectivity for critical airborne missions

Comtech receives additional funding for US Army Communications

GIT becomes Iridium Certus Service Provider to DoD and other Government customers

SUPERPOWERS
Germany to send 'half battalion' of tanks to Ukraine

US awards $522 mn for artillery shells; Ukraine's allies scramble to keep ammo flowing

Ukraine troops train on Leopard tanks in Poland

Northrop Grumman-built Common Infrared Countermeasure Systems approved by US Army for early fielding

SUPERPOWERS
Ukraine munition appetite tests Western defence industry

Germany slams Swiss ban on munitions for Ukraine

Philippines' Marcos strikes defence, infrastructure deals in Tokyo

Ukraine defence chief says audit underway after corruption scandals

SUPERPOWERS
NATO chief tells Turkey to ratify Sweden, Finland membership

Biden says will contact Xi in wake of balloon shoot-down

NATO chief to push Sweden, Finland bids on Turkey visit

NATO debates raising defence spending target

SUPERPOWERS
Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.