NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said it’s uncertain whether the military alliance will be able to overcome Turkey’s opposition to membership for Finland and Sweden.
The two Nordic nations applied to join the US-led bloc in May, voicing concerns over their security amid Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
NATO was hoping to swiftly admit the new members, but Turkey blocked the move, demanding that Finland and Sweden stop harboring members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and imposing arms embargoes on Ankara.
In an interview with the news website Politico on Wednesday, Stoltenberg was asked whether he felt he was being “held hostage” by Turkey, as NATO needs the support of all 30 members to accept a new country.
“We have a system where we are based on consensus, that’s the way we make decisions in NATO, then there will often be a situation where one or a few allies disagree with the rest, and then we need to overcome then,” the NATO chief said.