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Added on the 12/05/2022 08:54:32 - Copyright : Euronews EN
"About the NATO membership, we have to take it calmly and we have to wait for the elections in Turkey to take place" says Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. The comment comes after the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto announced Finland has to consider joining NATO without Sweden, whose bid appears to grind to a halt after Ankara blasted Stockholm over anti-Turkey protests. "Keep your watch on the ball but don’t be a ball yourself," adds Niinisto. SOUNDBITE
Finland's Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, confirms to the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee that his country wants to join NATO, against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and tensions with Russia. SOUNDBITE
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said to Turkish officials that all those involved in last week's failed coup attempt "will be purged and suffer the consequences that they deserve", during a statement alongside Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, in Ankara, on Tuesday. His comments come as officials announced that over 15,000 education staff had been suspended, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government continues to purge its ranks of opponents following Friday’s failed coup.
Mark Toner, deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said on Tuesday that "it's absurd to think that United States was somehow complicit or anyway connected" to Friday's failed coup in Turkey.
Leaders from the Party of European Socialists, including head of the British Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn and President of PES Sergei Stanishev, gathered in Paris' Bourse Palace, Thursday, for talks on how to move forward after the UK's vote to leave the EU.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker met with First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon in Brussels on Wednesday, as the European Council emergency meeting on the 'Brexit' issue takes place in the Belgian capital. Relations between Scotland and the EU, the 'Brexit' result, as well as the possibility of a second referendum on Scotland’s independence from the UK were expected to top the agenda of the meeting.