NATO Announces Urgent, Bid to Admit Sweden, Into the Alliance.
On June 26, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
called an urgent meeting to reach an agreement with
Turkey over objections to Sweden joining the alliance.
Fox News reports that the meeting, planned to
occur in the coming days, is a last-ditch effort to
have Sweden join prior to a major summit in July.
In order to expand the alliance,
NATO requires unanimous
approval of all members.
Turkey has maintained its opposition to Sweden joining
NATO, accusing the Nordic country of being lenient
on groups that Ankara considers a security threat.
We agreed to convene a high-level
meeting in Brussels before the summit.
The aim is to make progress in completing
Sweden’s accession to NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, via Fox News.
While Stoltenberg did not specify a specific date for the
urgent meeting, he said that foreign ministers, intelligence
officials and national security advisors would be involved.
Citing fears following Russia's invasion of Ukraine,
both Sweden and Finland have abandoned
years of neutrality by seeking to join NATO. .
Citing fears following Russia's invasion of Ukraine,
both Sweden and Finland have abandoned
years of neutrality by seeking to join NATO. .
In April, Finland became the 31st member
of the world's largest security organization.
Fox News reports that Hungary has also objected
to Sweden's bid to join NATO, while having
yet to publicly state what their concerns are.
According to NATO officials, Hungary is expected
to follow suit if Turkey decides to lift
its objections to Sweden's candidacy.