NATO chief convenes talks in a bid to persuade Turkey to let Sweden join the military alliance

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he’s called a meeting of senior officials on July 6 to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military alliance. The meeting is a last-ditch effort to deal with one of the final obstacles to Sweden’s membership before a major summit the following week. Turkey’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt. Hungarian lawmakers, meanwhile, said a long-delayed vote in parliament on ratifying Sweden’s membership bid will not happen until the autumn legislative session. That would almost certainly mean Stockholm will not get the green light in time for the summit.