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Swedish and Finnish counterparts’ comments on the invitation to join the NATO alliance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a meeting on Thursday

The US will “soon be able to call” Sweden and Finland NATO allies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday following a meeting with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts, when asked about their admission into the defense alliance.

All 30 NATO member states are required to approve the two Nordic nations joining. Turkey is the only member that has voiced opposition to their membership, while Hungary is yet to ratify it.

Turkish President, Mr. Erdoan, accused both countries of supporting members of the PKK, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization.

Erdoğan has also called on Finland to publicly abandon the arms embargo it imposed on Turkey in 2019, after it invaded northern Syria. Sweden joined the embargo in September.

Finland and Sweden’s applications to join the NATO military alliance could be assessed separately, Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday.

“After the declaration that a different decision could be reached in relation to Finland, we discussed this matter with the countries involved and NATO,” he said.

avuolu accused the Swedish government of being involved in the Quran burning at the protest in Sweden.

“They have removed any restrictions on arms exports, strengthened their legislation on terrorism. And Sweden is also amending their constitution and stepped up the cooperation with Türkiye, also established a permanent mechanism to continue to work closely with Türkiye in the fight against terrorism,” he continued.

Stoltenberg added that “it’s the Turkish Government, the Turkish parliament, that decides on the issue over ratification, and it’s a Turkish decision alone.”