NATO Secretary-General to Turkey in New Bid to Boost Sweden's Membership

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials this weekend, as pressure mounts on Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden's joining the military alliance.

In a statement on Friday, NATO headquarters said Stoltenberg was scheduled to attend Erdogan's swearing-in, after winning last week's presidential run-off. Stoltenberg is also scheduled to attend meetings in Turkey on Sunday. No details were announced.

NATO wants Sweden to join its ranks by the time coalition leaders meet in Lithuania on July 11-12, but Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify the move.

All 31 NATO members must certify the accession of the candidate country to the alliance.

The Turkish government accuses Sweden of being too lax with "terrorist organisations" and security threats including Kurdish armed groups and people accused of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt.

Hungary also postponed its approval, but did not give reasons.

Stoltenberg told reporters Thursday at the end of two days of informal talks between coalition foreign ministers to prepare for the summit in Vilnius: "My message is that Sweden has met (demands) and it's time to ratify Sweden."

Fearing being targeted by Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned military non-alignment in pursuit of NATO protection. Finland became the 31st member of the alliance in April.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilström said on Thursday that "it is time for Turkey and Hungary to start ratifying Sweden's membership in NATO."