French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding the latter's opposition to Sweden and Finland's North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) application.
Macron urged Erdoğan to "respect Finland and Sweden's sovereign decision to join NATO." The French President further hoped for a "solution be quickly found to lift the Turkish veto."
The Elysee Palace released a statement after the phone call, "The President of the Republic stressed the importance of respecting the sovereign choice of these two countries, resulting from a democratic process and intervening in response to the evolution of their security environment."
Ankara warned on Wednesday that it would not accept Sweden and Finland's membership unless it received "concrete measures" from NATO regarding its security concerns.
Turkey's opposition sparked a crisis within NATO, of which it is a member. Sweden and Finland will be unable to join NATO unless all of the bloc's members agree.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that the two countries will be welcomed "with open arms," but their bids must be approved by all 30 members of the alliance.
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