Swedish foreign minister still hopeful Turkey will ratify NATO bid in Oct

The Swedish foreign minister said on Friday he remained hopeful that Turkey will ratify Sweden's planned NATO membership when the Turkish parliament reconvenes in October, as agreed with President Tayyip Erdogan at a summit of the alliance in July.

"The Swedish government has not had any signals during the summer other than that the cards that were put down then are ones that are valid now in this question and that the statement given at Vilnius is still valid," Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told reporters.