Turkey has made it clear that its intention is not to block membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, answering a question from CNN after a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Berlin.

“Turkey has made it clear that their intention is not to block membership,” Stoltenberg said, speaking via videolink as he recovers from COVID. 

“I’m confident that we will be able to address the concerns that Turkey has expressed in a way that doesn’t delay the membership or the accession process,” he said. “My intention is still to have a quick and swift process.”

The NATO Secretary General noted that this will take some time and there is no way to prevent it.