U.S. President Joe Biden is in Helsinki to meet Thursday with leaders from Nordic countries and praise Finland’s NATO accession. 

Biden’s schedule includes a separate meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto before the larger gathering that includes Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir. 

The agenda for the U.S.-Nordic summit is expected to include discussion of climate change, security cooperation and emerging technologies. 

Finland and Sweden sought NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. 

The alliance admitted Finland in April, but Sweden’s bid was held up by Turkey amid Turkish complaints that Sweden was being too lenient toward groups that Ankara considers terrorist organizations. 

After multiple rounds of talks and Swedish enactment of reforms that include a new counterterrorism law, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week he would drop his opposition and move to recommend Turkish lawmakers give their approval for Sweden to join NATO. 

The other participants in Thursday’s talks are all NATO members. 

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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