NATO Counts On Sweden's Accession At July Summit In Vilnius - Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani

NATO expects Sweden to be able to join the alliance at the July summit in Vilnius, after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg finalizes its accession talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his upcoming visit to Ankara, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2023) NATO expects Sweden to be able to join the alliance at the July summit in Vilnius, after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg finalizes its accession talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his upcoming visit to Ankara, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday.

"We have all expressed great support for Sweden's accession to NATO, and we hope that this can happen already in Vilnius," Tajani told Italian journalists on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Oslo, Italian news agency Askanews reported.

With Sweden's accession to NATO still blocked by Turkey and Hungary, Tajani said that Stoltenberg would attempt to "untie last knots" and secure Ankara's consent at the meeting with Erdogan.

The top-level NATO summit will be hosted by the Lithuanian capital city from July 11-12.

Sweden, together with Finland, submitted applications for NATO membership in May 2022, citing changing security environment in Europe on the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis. On March 31, Finland's application was ratified by all 30 members of the alliance. Sweden's bid is still pending approval by Hungary and Turkey. The latter vetoed it after a controversial Quran-burning demonstration in Stockholm on top of prior accusations of Sweden's support of members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization.