BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday called for a solution to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden “as soon as possible,” clarifying that an upcoming NATO summit at the end of June in Madrid is not a deadline to resolve the matter.

“The aim is to solve those issues as soon as possible and to welcome Finland and Sweden as full members, that’s why we are working so hard,” he told a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Sweden.

The NATO chief hoped to find a solution “as soon as possible,” in reference to Turkey’s objection to the NATO membership of the two EU countries on alleged support to Kurdish terrorist groups, saying the Madrid summit is not a deadline to resolve the issue.

It is clear that Sweden and Finland’s membership in NATO would “boost transAtlantic security and enable closer Nordic and Baltic defense cooperation,” he added, underlining that Ankara’s security concerns on the matter need to be addressed.

On her part, Andersson said, “We take Turkey’s concerns very seriously, citing a “bilateral and trilateral dialogue” with Turkey that’s ongoing right now.

“We have changed our laws during the last years, we have a much stronger legislation in the fight against terrorism than we had before,” added the Swedish prime minister.

Any NATO membership agreement must be unanimously approved by all 30 members of the alliance. — KUNA