Finnish foreign minister says missing clear date on NATO ratification by Turkey

"We know that Turkey is going to elections, of course our hope is that a decision comes from Turkey sooner rather than later."

By Reuters December 9, 2022
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Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto turns to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom during a joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C. on December 8, 2022. (Amanda Andrade Rhodes / Reuters)

Finland’s foreign minister said on Thursday that many issues over Turkey’s concerns over terrorism set out in a memorandum to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO had been clarified though a date for ratification by Ankara remained missing.

“What we are still missing is the clear date, a clear plan for the Turkish parliament to deal with this issue,” Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told a news conference with his Swedish and U.S. counterparts during a visit to Washington.

“We know that Turkey is going to elections, of course our hope is that a decision comes from Turkey sooner rather than later.”

Turkey is one of two NATO members that have yet to ratify the accession of the Nordic countries.

Reporting by Niklas Pollard and Johan Ahlander in Stockholm.

This article has been fact-checked by Arctic Today and Polar Research and Policy Initiative, with the support of the EMIF managed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

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