Sweden postpones Turkey security meeting due to airplane trouble

Sweden's new foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard walks after the opening of the parliament (Riksdagen) in Stockholm, Sweden, September 10, 2024. Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/File Photo

STOCKHOLM - An airplane carrying Sweden's foreign minister and justice minister has returned to Stockholm after suffering a technical problem while on the way to Turkey, and a key security meeting will thus be postponed, Swedish officials said on Wednesday.

The crew and passengers were not in any immediate danger, and a new date will be set for the meeting, Sweden's foreign ministry said.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard and Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer had been due to hold their first meeting with Turkish officials addressing a security pact agreed to ensure Ankara's approval of Stockholm's NATO membership bid.

Turkey approved Sweden's bid to join the military alliance in January after a more than year-long delay over Ankara's concerns about Sweden's stance on groups and individuals it deems terrorists, and over an arms embargo that Stockholm later lifted.

-(Reuters)