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NATO puts pressure on Turkey to provide membership to Sweden, Finland — expert

Internal talks were held with Turkey to make it stop obstructing the process, which is very important to NATO, political scientist Leonardo Paz Neves noted

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 29. /TASS/. NATO members put strong pressure on Turkey to make it stop blocking the accession of Sweden and Finland, political scientist Leonardo Paz Neves from Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation told TASS.

"European countries put strong pressure on Turkey and undoubtedly, internal talks were held with Turkey to make it stop obstructing the process, which is very important to NATO. Had they been unable to grant NATO membership to Finland and Sweden, it would have been a huge diplomatic failure, particularly at a time when NATO seeks to demonstrate unity in a standoff with Russia," the expert pointed out.

According to Leonardo Paz Neves, Turkey will get "something in return."

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO on May 18. They were expected to receive a formal invitation to become the bloc’s members at a NATO summit in Madrid, but Turkey blocked the accession process. Talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took place in the Spanish capital on June 28. As a result, the foreign ministers of Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a memorandum making it possible for Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.

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NATO Turkey Finland Sweden

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