Spanish premier hails Türkiye’s 'constructive attitude'

MADRID

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday hailed Türkiye’s "constructive attitude" at the NATO Summit held in Madrid.

"One of the historic results of this summit has been the agreement that will allow two great European democracies, Sweden and Finland, to access NATO," Sanchez said at a news conference.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war has shown us that our security is not guaranteed, we must protect it and dedicate resources to it," he said.

He said that Spain will allocate 2% of its GDP to defense.

The Nordic countries were officially invited to the alliance following a trilateral memorandum signed by Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden on Tuesday.

The memorandum addresses Türkiye's concerns, including arms exports and the fight against terrorism.

Earlier in the day, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said that the NATO accession protocol for the Nordic countries will be signed on Tuesday.

Sanchez also noted that it has been "very important "to have the virtual participation of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit in order "to show our support for the Ukrainian people."

Following his bilateral meeting with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, he tweeted: "Turkey is a key partner on issues such as security and mediation. Today I spoke with its President, @RTErdogan, thanked him for his diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue and the end of Russian aggression in Ukraine, as well as for his support in strengthening the southern flank.”