OREANDA-NEWS Turkey has a strategic goal of full membership in the EU, and a similar approach of the union to the country meets the common interests, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted by the Anadolu agency.

Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999. However, negotiations between Ankara and Brussels on this issue have long stalled. Western media note that there is no unity among the EU countries on the Turkish candidacy.

In 2023, Erdogan stated that he would agree to Sweden joining NATO on condition that Turkey would be accepted into the EU. As a result, it became known that Stockholm, in exchange for Turkey's agreement to ratify its accession to the alliance, undertakes to help Ankara on its way to the European Union.