According to the French Presidency, the leaders spoke by telephone, a dialogue in which the newly elected Macron urged his interlocutor to “respect the sovereign will” of Helsinki and Stockholm.
Erdogan has conditioned the approval of Finland and Sweden to join NATO on a convincing response to Ankara’s alleged complaint that they host hostile people, in particular members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, considered by Turkey to be a terrorist organization. , and supporters of the 2016 coup.
The President of the Republic stressed the importance of respecting the sovereign decision of these nations, the result of a democratic process and a reaction to the evolution of their security environment, the Elysée Palace said.
While Finland and Sweden use the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as an argument to break their neutral stance towards Russia by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Moscow warns that they further complicate the European landscape, to which it will respond.
The expansion of NATO towards the Russian borders was one of the issues raised by the Kremlin to launch a military operation against Ukraine at the end of February, the spearhead of the Western crusade to surround the Eurasian power.
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