<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said he would visit Ankara "in the near future" to push the ratification of Sweden's membership, after the re-election of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I'm confident of course that Sweden will be a member, and then we're working for that to happen as early as possible," Stoltenberg said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stoltenberg said he had already spoken to Erdogan by phone earlier this week to "highlight the importance of making progress" on Sweden's membership.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have yet to ratify Sweden's membership bid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finland formally joined the alliance in April.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Erdogan, who was re-elected Sunday for another five-year term as Turkey's president, has accused Sweden of being a haven for "terrorists", especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Stockholm had fulfilled "all the commitments" to join NATO and urged Turkey and Hungary to allow his country into the alliance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to NATO," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This was never a sprint, it's a marathon, and we now see the end of it."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Billstrom pointed to the entry into force on Thursday of new terror legislation in Sweden as the last step under an accord signed with Turkey last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Billstrom said he hoped to see a big step made towards membership at a meeting with representatives of Turkey in the coming weeks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Following that meeting, the ratification will happen," Billstrom insisted. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>