Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed Sweden’s accession to NATO and assistance to Ukraine, the head of government said in a statement.
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“I spoke with President Erdogan today. We discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden’s bid to join NATO, and more,” Trudeau said in a tweet.
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It is also noted that the leaders of the two countries are “committed to working together” to maintain the principles of peace and collective security in the world.
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Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Erdogan agreed “as soon as possible” to send papers to ratify Sweden’s application for NATO membership to the Turkish parliament. At the same time, Stoltenberg did not name any specific dates. There are no specific deadlines for consideration by the Turkish parliament of Sweden’s application for NATO membership, the procedure will take time.
Finland and Sweden, against the background of the events in Ukraine in May 2022, applied to join the alliance. Finland became the 31st member of NATO on 4 April. Sweden’s application has not yet received Hungarian and Turkish approval.
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Sweden, as a member of the European Union, at the talks with Erdogan in Vilnius agreed to help intensify the process of Turkey’s accession to the EU, Stoltenberg said earlier. At the same time, he stressed that, in principle, the issues of Sweden’s accession to NATO and Turkey’s accession to the EU “are not connected with each other.”
