Nato confident of getting consensus on Finland, Sweden membership

BERLIN: The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) is confident that it can overcome objections by Turkey and quickly admit Finland and Sweden, its deputy chief said yesterday, as the alliance prepares for a historic enlargement in the Nordic region.

Foreign ministers from Nato’s 30 member states were holding two days of talks this weekend here, focused on the two Nordic countries’ membership bids. Their formal application to join Nato was expected within days.

However on Saturday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu unexpectedly raised objections, saying it was “unacceptable and outrageous” that the prospective new Nato members gave support to the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK.

It was not clear whether discussions between Cavusoglu and several Nato foreign ministers as well as their Finnish and Swedish counterparts later in the evening had yielded any progress in resolving the dispute.

As talks resumed yesterday, Nato deputy secretary-general Mircea Geoana said he was confident Ankara’s concerns could be addressed. “Turkey is an important ally and expressed concerns that are addressed between friends and allies,” Geoana said.

“I am confident if these countries decide to seek membership in Nato, we will be able to welcome them, and find conditions for consensus to be met.”

The foreign ministers will also look at a first draft of Nato’s new strategic concept, its basic military doctrine, which is set to be agreed at a leaders summit in Madrid at the end of June.

“We agreed we must continue to help Ukraine win and push Russia out,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin must face a sustained defeat in Ukraine. Russia must be contained and such aggression must never happen again.”