According to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s membership of NATO still runs counter to Turkey’s demands on his country. Ankara has “demands that we cannot and do not want to meet. And now the decision is up to Turkey,” he said on Sunday at a security conference in Sälen, in western Sweden. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expects Sweden and Finland to join this year.
At the same time, Kristersson emphasized: “Turkey has confirmed that we have done what we promised them.” He remains convinced that Turkey will agree to Sweden’s accession, the Swedish prime minister said. “We just don’t know when.”
missile defense and air patrols
As a member of the defense alliance, Sweden is willing, among other things, to participate in NATO’s joint missile defense system and in air patrols over the Baltic States, the Black Sea and Iceland, Kristersson said in his speech.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg expects the two formerly neutral Nordic states to join the defense alliance later this year. He expects the two countries to come together in 2023, Stoltenberg told the AFP news agency on Sunday. However, he is unwilling to commit to an exact date, as the “sovereign decision” by the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments to admit Sweden and Finland into NATO is still pending.
“Best Friend and Partner”
Finland and Sweden “clearly committed themselves to long-term cooperation with Turkey,” Stoltenberg told the security conference in Sälen. Therefore, “the time has come to conclude the accession process and to ratify the accession protocol”.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 as part of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told the security conference in Sälen that they would wait for Sweden. “We submitted the NATO application together and will complete the process together,” Haavisto said. “Sweden is our best friend and partner. It wouldn’t even be in Finland’s interest to join without Sweden.” Sweden and Finland jointly formed a strategic military unit.
NATO member Turkey is blocking Nordic countries from joining, citing Sweden’s alleged support for “terrorist organizations” such as the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), among other reasons. The country had made a series of demands as a condition for ratifying the accession protocols. Among other things, Turkey demands a stronger fight against “terrorism” and the extradition of dozens of people.
In addition to Turkey’s approval of NATO’s northward expansion, Hungary’s is still pending. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would have announced this to his counterparts for the next session of the Hungarian Parliament, which, according to the parliamentary calendar, should not start until February. In the last session, which ended in early December, the vote was not included on the agenda.
(apa)