The head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, assured this Thursday in Ankara that "the time has come" to ratify the candidacies of Finland and Sweden to integrate the Western defense alliance, which are blocked by Turkey.
"I still believe that the time has come to welcome Finland and Sweden as NATO members," Stoltenberg declared during a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Those of Finland and Sweden to join NATO ran into the Turkish veto, especially against the entry of the Swedes.
The Turkish government opposes Sweden's accession because that country grants refuge to Kurdish leaders and suspected participants in the failed coup in Turkey in 2016.
Thirty NATO countries have signed the Finnish and Swedish accession protocols and 28 have ratified them. Only Turkey and Hungary have not yet expressed their agreement.
The NATO Secretary General arrived in Turkey to express the help of the Alliance's support after the devastating earthquake on February 6 that left some 36,000 dead in the country, and some 3,700 in Syria
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