PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron spoke on Tuesday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, to whom he said he wanted to ask Turkey “for clarity about its position” vis-à-vis the ‘Alliance, declared the Elysée a week before the opening of the NATO summit in Madrid.
Turkey, a member of NATO since 1952, opposes the integration of Sweden and Finland into NATO, on the grounds, in particular, that they would shelter “terrorists” from the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK) and its YPG branch in Syria.
Ankara is also calling for the lifting of a Swedish embargo on arms exports targeting it since the Turkish army’s offensive in northern Syria in October 2019.
Sweden and Finland filed last month their application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a request prompted by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last February.
During his interview with Jens Stoltenberg, Emmanuel Macron “reiterated his support for Finland and Sweden in their sovereign choice to join the Alliance, and underlined that they are close partners with robust defense capabilities, which will thus contribute strengthen the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area”.
The French head of state “also recalled France’s availability to provide security guarantees to the two countries until they become members of the alliance”.
Leaders of NATO member countries are meeting June 28-30 in Madrid for a summit on strategic ways to strengthen the Alliance’s eastern flank in response to the war in Ukraine.
(Report Michel Rose, written by Matthieu Protard)
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