We're ready to join NATO: Swedish Defense Minister

“I very much appreciate Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by saying we’re ready,” Johnson said.

Kurdistan 24 2023/06/16 20:28

Paul Johnson, the defense Minister of Sweden, responding to Kurdistan24’s correspondent Barzan Hassan, June 16, 2023. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Europe Paul Johnson NATO Sweden Turkey MoU Finland

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Paul Johnson, the defense Minister of Sweden, on Friday responded to Kurdistan24’s correspondent Barzan Hassan on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense minister's meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

The Swedish Defense Minister spoke about his country's admission to NATO.

Johnson reaffirmed that they are ready to join NATO and added that they have a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) among Sweden, Finland and Turkey.

“I very much appreciate Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg by saying we’re ready,” Johnson said.

The Swedish senior official also stated that it would make very good sense for them to become a full-fledged member of NATO because they could be “a security provider also within their lives.”

Moreover, he revealed that his Turkish counterpart told them that what he wanted to see was more implementation of their new counterterrorism legislation.

NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels today to discuss global issues, including arming Ukrainian troops against Russian forces.

In June 2022, a trilateral MoU was signed among Turkey, Sweden, and Finland. Under this MoU, Turkey asked Sweden to extradite people wanted in Turkey on charges of membership in the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Fethullah Gulen movement.