Sweden, Finland have to comply with memorandum to be part of NATO: Türkiye

Sweden and Finland have to comply with a recent memorandum signed with Türkiye to be part of NATO, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday.

"If they do not comply, we will not accept them into NATO," Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a live interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV.

Sweden and Finland shunned neutrality and applied to join NATO in May, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.

Ahead of the NATO summit last week, Türkiye, Sweden and Finland signed the agreement after four-way talks including NATO in Madrid.

The agreement allows the two Nordic countries to become NATO members, but conditions them to take steps on Türkiye's terrorism concerns and lift an arms embargo on Ankara.

Following the trilateral deal, NATO formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the 30-member military alliance.