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Turkey has blocked the start of negotiations in NATO regarding the accession of Finland and Sweden to the alliance. The respective applications of the countries have been suspended, DPA reports, citing sources.
According to DPA, on Wednesday the bloc planned to discuss the applications submitted by the ambassadors of the two countries, which would be the beginning of the process of their accession to the organization. However, Ankara’s position did not allow the discussion to begin, sources say.
The Financial Times, citing sources, writes that now the consideration of applications from Sweden and Finland will take more than one to two weeks, which were initially discussed in NATO.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Erdogan said that Ankara is not going to support the applications of Stockholm and Helsinki, as long as they support “terrorists” – the Turkish side considers representatives of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party to be such.
Erdogan also stated that the Swedes and Finns supported sanctions against the Turkish side.