NATO Secretary General Says It's Time For Turkey To Ratify Sweden And Finland's Membership

JAKARTA - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, "the time is now" for Turkey to ratify applications by Finland and Sweden, to join the defense alliance.

Stoltenberg was speaking at a joint press conference in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock this week said she expected all NATO members to ratify the application "without further delay".

Finland and Sweden signed up to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Their membership applications have been ratified by all allies, except Hungary and Turkey.

Turkey is widely seen as the main anchor, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicating his country could ratify Finland's application, while not proceeding with Sweden.

Turkey says Sweden hosts members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is viewed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and others.

Last month Turkey suspended talks with Sweden and Finland over their appeal, after protests in which Rasmus Paludan, leader of the far-right Danish political party Hardline, burned copies of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Stoltenberg described the Koran burning protests as a "despicable act", saying the Swedish government had shown a strong position towards the protests which was to be commended.

"To me, this just shows that Sweden and Finland understand and implement policies that recognize the concerns expressed by Turkey. And this is why I think it's time to ratify," Stoltenberg said, as reported by Reuters February 17.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu reiterated Turkey's position that it could evaluate Finland's and Sweden's bids to join NATO separately.

While acknowledging that Sweden had amended the law on terrorism in line with Turkey's demands, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said the changes must be fully implemented.

Stoltenberg, who later met President Erdogan in Ankara before leaving for southern Turkey to visit quake-hit areas, added that the fight against terrorism will be high on the agenda at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July.