NATO official 'confident' about finding Finland, Sweden consensus

NATO is confident that it can overcome objections by Turkey and quickly admit Finland and Sweden, its deputy chief said on Sunday, as the alliance prepares for a historic enlargement in the Nordic region prompted by Russia's war on Ukraine.

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply for membership and Sweden is expected to follow suit as public support for membership has grown amid security concerns. read more.
Foreign ministers from NATO's 30 member states are holding two days of talks this weekend in Berlin that are focused on the two Nordic countries' membership bids.

On Saturday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu unexpectedly raised objections, saying it was "unacceptable and outrageous" that the prospective new NATO members supported the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK.

It was not immediately clear whether discussions between Cavusoglu and several NATO foreign ministers as well as their Finnish and Swedish counterparts later in the evening had yielded any progress in resolving the dispute.