Madrid

Negotiations with Türkiye on Sweden's NATO bid have become more difficult after members of a local party took photos with flags of the PKK terrorist organization, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has said.

The incident occurred in the city of Visby when Left Party deputies Daniel Riazat, Momodou Malcolm Jallow and Lorena Delgado Varas posed for a photo waving PKK flags on July 7.

Finland will host a meeting with Sweden and Türkiye later this month, the Finnish foreign minister said on Aug. 19, after Ankara voiced its opposition to the Nordic countries' NATO bids.

"Representatives of Finland, Sweden and Türkiye will meet in Finland in August," Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters.

Sweden will live up to the conditions of a memorandum of understanding agreed with Ankara to overcome Türkiye's objections to Swedish membership of NATO, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Aug. 16.

Andersson held a press conference at the The Almedalen Week, also known as "Politician's Week in Almedalen," an annual event on Park Almedalen in the city of Visby.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrive at NATO Summit in Madrid, 29 June 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/MATEUSZ MAREK POLAND OUT

With Sweden and Finland are set to convene on Aug. 26 for the first meeting of the joint mechanism committed under the trilateral memorandum, the Turkish foreign minister said on Aug. 11. 

The Rolling Stones wrapped up their 60th-anniversary tour on Aug. 3 in Germany with an emotional tribute to late drummer Charlie Watts.

The legendary British band had opened their European tour with a gig in Madrid on June 1 to mark six decades since they were formed.

The United States Congress has adopted a brief legislation to make the prospected sale of 40 F-16 warplanes and modernization kits to Türkiye more difficult following the intervention of a number of congressmen close to the Greek lobby.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly endorsed on Thursday the bill ratifying the NATO accession protocols for Finland and Sweden. Only the coalition Left reiterated its opposition to NATO enlargement and advocacy of Slovenia’s quitting the alliance, voting against.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee discussed on Wednesday a bill to ratify the protocols on Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO and decided to propose to the National Assembly to pass it. The committee proposed that the bill be discussed at an emergency session on Thursday.

As he said, that would open Pandora's box and then it would not be good for anyone.