STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Accession to NATO is a top priority for Sweden’s newly-appointed government, Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in Helsinki on Friday after a meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto.
“The new Swedish government attaches the highest priority to our NATO accession,” Billstrom told reporters.
He said an upcoming meeting between Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was part of that process.
Earlier, the country’s recently appointed Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a joint news conference with NATO’s secretary general that Sweden will involve itself more clearly and deeply in NATO’s counter-terrorism activities.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Friday his country remains in regular contact with Turkey amid the Nordic nation’s NATO membership bid and that he has been in dialogue with his Turkish counterpart during the past week.
