NATO issued a statement regarding the meeting between Swedish, Finnish and Turkish officials in Brussels today.

APA informs that this was reported by the press service of NATO.

On March 9, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg brought together the representatives of the governments of Turkey, Finland and Sweden, which are parties to the Permanent Joint Mechanism established by the Tripartite Memorandum signed in Madrid within the framework of the 2022 NATO Summit.

Opening the meeting, the Secretary General said that Finland and Sweden have taken important steps to address Turkey's legitimate security concerns.

"Now is the time for all Allies to complete the ratification process and welcome Finland and Sweden as full members of the Alliance ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius," Stoltenberg said.

At the meeting, the representatives of Turkey, Finland and Sweden discussed concrete steps to implement the tripartite memorandum.

"As agreed in the memorandum, there are no arms export restrictions between them; they have significantly expanded cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism; Sweden is currently in the process of tightening counter-terrorism legislation, including against the PKK. All participants appreciated the progress made," It was mentioned in the statement issued by NATO.

At the meeting, the parties agreed that the rapid ratification of both Finland and Sweden would be in everyone's interest and would strengthen their membership in the Alliance.

"Turkey, Finland and Sweden also agreed on the long-term importance of the Permanent Joint Mechanism in the fight against terrorism and agreed to continue cooperation in this format and to meet again until the Vilnius Summit."