NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at NATO headquarters Thursday for discussion on Sweden and Finland's applications to join the Alliance. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Stoltenberg said that the accession process for Sweden and Finland has been the fastest in NATO's modern history and nearly all Allies have completed their national procedures. "I welcome your commitment to the Trilateral Memorandum signed by Turkiye, Sweden and Finland to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism" he said. The NATO chief welcomed steps Sweden is taking to implement the Trilateral Memorandum, which includes ending any restrictions on arms sales to Turkiye, enhancing cooperation on counter-terrorism and prohibiting participation in terrorist organizations. On his part, Kristersson told the joint press conference that "we are very committed to the agreement between Sweden and Finland and Turkiye, and we're doing everything we can as soon as possible to fulfill all the obligations in it". "Just wanted to stress the fight against terrorism is of fundamental importance in this agreement," he stressed. In June, Turkiye, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum on combating terrorism on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain. The breakthrough came after Turkey lifted its objection on the two Nordic countries' application to join the Alliance. Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO membership applications in May and in the meantime 28 of the 30 Alliance member states except Hungary and Turkey have ratified them. — Agencies
