• Concerns raised by Turkey over Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership applications are legitimate, Jens Stoltenberg says.
• “This is about terrorism, it’s about weapons exports,” he tells a joint news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
• The two countries applied to join the Western defence alliance last month, in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Turkey’s security concerns in opposing Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership aspirations are genuine, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “These are valid issues.” “This is about terrorism and weapons exports”; Stoltenberg said during a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at his summer villa in Naantali, Finland.

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In reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied to join the Western defence alliance last month. Turkey, on the other hand, has accused them of aiding and harbouring Kurdish armed militants; and other groups that it considers terrorists.

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