Sweden has bowed to Turkey’s demand and agreed to extradite a fraud suspect after Ankara threatened to freeze Stockholm’s bid to join the NATO military alliance.
The move is the first known extradition since Turkey threatened to block requests from Sweden and neighboring Finland earlier this year.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May, putting aside their longstanding stance of military non-alignment.
It was a major shift in security arrangements for the two countries after neighboring Russia launched its war against Ukraine in late February – causing public opinion in the two Nordic countries to swing in favor of joining the alliance.
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to bar the two nations from NATO membership if they do not meet several demands, including the extradition of people Ankara considers “terrorists”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured during a NATO summit in Spain in June) has threatened to bar Sweden and Finland from NATO membership if they don’t meet several demands, including the extradition of people Ankara considers “terrorists”. considered.
Erdogan has accused the two countries of being safe havens for Kurdish militants, and singles out the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The extradition-threatening man was identified as Okan Kale in Swedish court documents and was convicted of credit card fraud in Turkey in 2013 and 2016.
He applied for asylum in Sweden in 2011, but his application was rejected. In 2014 he was granted refugee status in Italy.
Kale’s name appears on a list published in the Turkish media of people whom Ankara wants extradited from Sweden.
However, the Justice Ministry declined to comment on whether the man was on a list drawn up by Turkey.
It noted that Ankara had requested his extradition in 2021 – well before the Stockholmers’ request to join the North Atlantic Alliance in May.
“This is a regular, routine matter,” Justice Department spokeswoman Angelica Vallgren told AFP. “The extradition request was received last year.”
Kale has been in Swedish custody since December 2021.
He claims he was wrongly convicted because he converted to Christianity, refuses military service and has Kurdish roots, SVT said.
In an agreement signed by Sweden and Finland at a NATO summit in Madrid in late June, the two countries agreed to “swiftly and thoroughly” examine Turkish extradition requests.
Erdogan said Sweden made a “promise” to extradite “73 terrorists”.
‘It’s a normal routine matter. The person in question is a Turkish citizen and was convicted of fraud offenses in Turkey in 2013 and 2016,” Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson told Portal in a text message.
“The Supreme Court, as usual, has examined the matter and has concluded that there are no grounds for extradition,” he said.
A Justice Ministry spokesman declined to confirm whether the man was on the list of people whom Turkey has asked for extradition.
The countries sought NATO membership earlier this year to ensure their security following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine.
Sweden and Finland (shown in green) applied to join NATO in May, abandoning their longstanding stance of military non-alignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February
The rules of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization require approval from all of its 30 existing members before Finland and Sweden can formally join the alliance, which is expected in the coming months.
The candidatures of the two prosperous northern European nations have received ratification from more than half of NATO member states in the roughly three months since the two’s candidacy.
It marks one of the fastest expansions of the mutual defense pact between the United States and democratic allies in Europe in its 73-year history.
Sweden’s approval comes after US President Joe Biden formally welcomed Finland and Sweden’s entry into the NATO alliance on Tuesday.
He signed the instruments of ratification that provided formal US support for the Nordic nations’ entry into the Mutual Defense Pact.
“By attempting to join NATO, Finland and Sweden are making a sacred commitment that attack against one is attack against all,” Biden said at the signing, calling the partnership a “vital alliance.”
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden officially welcomed Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Pictured: Biden signs the instruments of ratification for the Protocols of Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty for the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden
The US became the 23rd ally to approve the two countries’ NATO membership. Biden said he spoke to the leaders of both nations before signing the ratification and urged the remaining NATO members to complete their own ratification process “as soon as possible.”
The Senate last week approved the two once-misaligned nations’ entry into the alliance in a rare 95-1 vote that Biden says shows the world “the United States of America can still do great things” with a sense of the political Unit.
US state and defense officials view the two countries as net “security suppliers” who specifically strengthen NATO’s defense position in the Baltics.
Finland is expected to exceed NATO’s 2% defense spending target of gross domestic product in 2022, and Sweden has committed to meeting the 2% target.
Biden encouraged their accession and welcomed the leaders of the two countries to the White House in May, who stood side by side to show US support.
The US and its European allies have joined forces in the face of Putin’s military invasion and the Russian leader’s sweeping statements this year condemning NATO, issuing veiled reminders of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, and asserting Russia’s historic claims to the territory of many Russias newly won partnership united neighbors.