HELSINKI, March 15 (Xinhua) — Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Wednesday that during his upcoming visit to Türkiye, he will acknowledge the receipt of the Turkish response to the ratification of Finland’s NATO membership.
Contact with the Turkish presidential administration has been frequent since spring, Niinisto said, and has accelerated in recent days.
The Finnish president also said that he has been in contact with the Swedish prime minister, adding that it is very important for Finland that NATO membership both for his country and Sweden should be realized as soon as possible.
Niinisto’s working visit to Türkiye this Thursday and Friday was announced by the Finnish Presidential Office earlier on Wednesday.
Niinisto will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday.
In addition to NATO membership and post-earthquake reconstruction, topics on the agenda are the geopolitical situation and bilateral relations between Finland and Turkey, the president’s office said.
Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO on May 18, 2022. So far, 28 of NATO’s member states have ratified the applications, but Turkey and Hungary have not yet approved the Scandinavian countries’ membership.
Source: sn.dk