Finnish, Swedish Leaders To Discuss NATO Bid With Turkish President

Finnish and Swedish leaders will discuss their efforts to join the NATO alliance with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday at the start of a summit in Madrid, the Finnish government said on Monday. “President [Sauli] Niinistö will meet tomorrow in Madrid with Turkish President Erdoğan, Swedish Prime Minister [Magdalena] Andersson and NATO Secretary-General [Jens] Stoltenberg,” the Finnish presidency tweeted. “The meeting at the level of the heads of state will be preceded by a round of talks at the level of Finnish, Swedish, and Turkish officials hosted by NATO in Brussels today,” the tweet continued. Turkey has blocked the bids of the two Nordic countries, which, Ankara says, provide a safe haven to Kurdish terrorists.