Sweden and Finland could join NATO as early as 2023, the NATO Secretary General said on Sunday, who however recalled that the decision depended on the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments.

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“I expect [the accession to take place in 2023], but I will not guarantee the exact date, because it is of course a sovereign decision of the Turkish Parliament and the Hungarian Parliament, [which] have not yet ratified the agreement,” Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with AFP.

Hungary and especially Turkey have been blocking the entry of the two Nordic countries into NATO since May.

“We had negotiations, and they were quite demanding, in July last year, when Turkey, Finland and Sweden agreed on a joint memorandum in which they described how they could intensify their collaboration, to both with regard to arms exports, but also, for example, in the fight against terrorism,” said Mr Stoltenberg.

“Finland and Sweden have respected this agreement and are clearly committed to having long-term cooperation with Turkey on these issues. Therefore, the time has come to finalize the accession process and ratify the accession protocol,” he said.

A little earlier in the day, the Swedish Prime Minister had denounced certain requests from Turkey.

In December, the Swedish Supreme Court refused to extradite journalist Bulent Kenes as requested by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ankara "also says that it wants things that we cannot and do not want to give it", Ulf Kristersson had then underlined during a conference on defense and security.

The NATO Secretary General noted the speed of the accession process for the two countries.

“Of course, I would like it to be finalized as soon as possible. But at the same time, it's a quick process compared to all NATO membership processes,” Stoltenberg said.

“I am convinced that it will happen, but I will be careful not to speculate on the exact moment when it will happen,” he concluded.