Fidan to attend NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will travel to Brussels to participate in the NATO foreign ministers meeting scheduled to take place over two days starting Tuesday.

The NATO meeting, held at the alliance’s headquarters, will consist of three key sessions addressing pressing global issues.

The first session, with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in attendance, will cover the Middle East crisis and NATO’s cooperation with Jordan.

During this session, Minister Fidan is expected to underline Türkiye’s concerns regarding the Syrian conflict. He will reportedly highlight Syria's ongoing instability due to the presence of terrorist groups and stress the importance of supporting Türkiye, NATO’s southeastern flank, in curbing the region's disruptions. 

Another key session, involving Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, will center on the NATO-Ukraine Council.

The session will discuss the latest situation on the ground in the Russian war on Ukraine which started in February 2022.

During the meetings, Fidan is set to reaffirm Türkiye’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. He is likely to urge NATO allies to prioritize diplomacy as a means to end the war and call on the EU to honor its commitments to non-EU allies.

The final session, with the participation of allies only, will discuss risks and threats to the Euro-Atlantic region and escalations in neighboring regions.

Fidan is expected to emphasize the need to remove all barriers to trade in defense products between the allies and the importance of “full solidarity” in the fight against terrorism, in line with the decisions taken at the 2023 Vilnius and 2024 Washington summits.

Additionally, Fidan is expected to hold bilateral discussions with various foreign ministers during the event. The meeting will be chaired by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who assumed office on Oct. 1.