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Added on the 01/06/2023 09:19:10 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcome Turkey's decision to push ahead with ratifying Finland's membership, and says Sweden should also be allowed to join as soon as possible. "The most important thing is that both Finland and Sweden become full members of NATO quickly, not whether they join at exactly the same time," Stoltenberg said. SOUNDBITE
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says "the time has come to ratify both Finland and Sweden and to make them full members of our alliance " during a press conference in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. SOUNDBITE
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says Turkey should approve Sweden's stalled bid for membership "as soon as possible". "Sweden has delivered on what they promised and now the time has come for Turkiye to finalise the accession process," Stoltenberg tells a press conference in Brussels. Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members to not yet have ratified Sweden joining the alliance over 18 months after it applied for membership. SOUNDBITE
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg calls on Ankara to drop its opposition to Sweden's bid to join the defence alliance, saying Stockholm has addressed Turkey's security concerns and "fulfilled its obligations". Turkey has dragged its feet over admitting Sweden into the alliance, with President Erdogan accusing the country of being a haven for "terrorists", especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies. Stoltenberg explains that Sweden has progressed in "stepping up counter-terrorism cooperation, including against the PKK." SOUNDBITE
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warns that the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut may fall into Russian hands in the coming days following months of intense fighting."We can not rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days," Stoltenberg tells reporters in Stockholm on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defence ministers. SOUNDBITE