Helsinki: Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has said that during his upcoming visit to Turkey he would acknowledge reception of the Turkish response to the ratification of Finland’s NATO membership.
Contact with the Turkish presidential administration has been frequent since last spring, Niinisto added on Wednesday, and has accelerated in recent days.
The Finnish President also said he has been in contact with the Swedish Prime Minister, adding that it is very important to Finland that NATO membership both for his country and Sweden should materialise as soon as possible.
Niinisto’s working visit to Turkey this Thursday and Friday was announced by the Finnish presidential office earlier on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
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 include the geopolitical situation, and bilateral relations between Finland and Turkey, the presidential office said.
Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO on May 18, 2022. So far, 28 of NATO’s member countries have ratified the applications, but Turkey and Hungary have not yet approved the Scandinavian countries’ memberships.
–IANS
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