BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday he has called a meeting of senior officials from Turkiye, Sweden and Finland on July 6 to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military organization.
Hungarian lawmakers, meanwhile, said a long-delayed vote in parliament on ratifying Sweden’s NATO accession bid would not happen until the autumn legislative session. That would almost certainly mean the Nordic nation will not join in time for a major July 11-12 summit.
The July 6 pre-summit meeting is a last-ditch effort by Stoltenberg to have the Nordic country standing among NATO’s ranks as a member. It would be a highly symbolic moment and another indication of how Russia’s war in Ukraine is driving countries to join the Western alliance.
“The time is now to welcome Sweden as a full member of NATO,” Stoltenberg told reporters as he announced the date for the meeting. Foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs and security advisers from Turkiye, Sweden and Finland, which joined NATO in April, will be taking part in the talks in Brussels.
NATO requires the unanimous approval of all members to expand. Turkiye accuses Sweden of being too lenient on groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.
Fearing they might be targeted by Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella.
Hungary is also delaying its approval of Sweden’s candidacy but has never clearly stated publicly what its concerns are. NATO officials expect that it will follow suit once Turkiye lifts its objections.
In a Facebook post, Agnes Vadai, a lawmaker with Hungary’s opposition Democratic Coalition party, wrote that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his governing Fidesz party would not schedule a vote on Sweden’s accession during its final spring session next week.
Another lawmaker from the Democratic Coalition also confirmed that the vote would be delayed.
The postponement is the latest in a long succession of delays that have gone on for a year, with high-ranking Hungarian officials saying they support Sweden’s membership while also making vague demands from Stockholm as a condition for approval.
NATO chief convenes July 6 talks hoping to convince Turkiye to let Sweden join
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NATO chief convenes July 6 talks hoping to convince Turkiye to let Sweden join
- The July 6 pre-summit meeting is a last-ditch effort by Stoltenberg to have the Nordic country standing among NATO's ranks as a member
- “The time is now to welcome Sweden as a full member of NATO,” Stoltenberg told reporters
Robbers assault Chinese MP in million-euro Paris burglary
- The Chinese MP was “assaulted in his sleep and reports the theft of several pieces of jewelry ” prosecutors said
- The unauthorized use of a key could be an aggravating factor
PARIS: Thieves attacked a Chinese lawmaker at his Paris home while he was asleep, making off with jewelry and luxury goods worth several million euros, prosecutors said on Friday.
The attack took place overnight Thursday to Friday in the city’s upscale 16th arrondissement, where police found no signs of forced entry, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said.
The Chinese MP was “assaulted in his sleep and reports the theft of several pieces of jewelry and luxury goods,” prosecutors added.
The unauthorized use of a key could be an aggravating factor, it added.
The victim woke after hearing noise and was struck on the head by the burglars before they escaped, a police source said.
The suspects fled with watches, brooches and other valuables, with losses estimated between six and seven million euros ($8.3 million), the source said, adding that the Chinese deputy reported two thieves were involved.
