Jens Stoltenberg

Greece was among seven out of 30 allies to meet NATO's military spending target of 2% of GDP in 2022, one country less than in 2021 before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the alliance's annual report for 2022. 

Speaking ahead of the launch, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged allies to boost defense investment more quickly.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on March 17 hailed Türkiye 's decision to push ahead with ratifying Finland's membership, and said Sweden should also be allowed to join "as soon as possible".

"The most important thing is that both Finland and Sweden become full members of NATO quickly, not whether they join at exactly the same time," Stoltenberg said.

Türkiye welcomes the steps taken by Finland and Sweden against the illegal PKK group, but they are not enough to ratify the Nordic countries' NATO bid, presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said on March 9.

Turkey has cancelled indefinitely a trilateral mechanism meeting with Sweden and Finland scheduled for February after a weekend protest in Stockholm that drew condemnation from Ankara, state broadcaster TRT reported on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence Tuesday that Finland and Sweden will join the military alliance, just days after the government in Stockholm said it had done all it could to satisfy Turkey's reservations about its membership.

It's time for Sweden to join NATO because it has done what's necessary to secure Turkey's approval for membership, the military alliance's secretary-general said Monday.

"I have said that time has come to bring to an end the ratification process for Sweden," Jens Stoltenberg told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview.

Türkiye, which has for months blocked NATO membership bids by Sweden and Finland, has made some demands that Sweden cannot accept, Sweden's prime minister said on Jan. 8. 

"Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application for NATO membership, but we cannot fulfill all Turkish demands," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Sunday, quoted by the Reuters agency.

A Norwegian lawmaker representing the anti-immigrant right has announced that he has nominated his compatriot, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.

According to Christian Tübring-Gedde, Stoltenberg deserves the award for his exemplary work during the difficult period of the brutal invasion against Ukraine.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Oct. 26 he would go to Türkiye "in the near future" to discuss Finland and Sweden's nearly completed process to join the military alliance.