Secretary-General Stoltenberg’s diplomatic offensive in Turkey has failed to bring about a breakthrough in the dispute over Sweden’s membership in NATO. Above all: In eight days, the two countries want to talk to each other again.
Turkey, Sweden and NATO agree on new talks on Sweden’s accession to NATO. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg announced this after talks in Ankara. Accordingly, the consultation will be held on Monday, June 12.
Turkey has so far blocked Sweden’s entry, arguing that the country does too little to fight terrorism and is a safe haven for members of the Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK.
Sweden has toughened terrorism laws
Meanwhile, Sweden has reacted by tightening its terrorism laws. Accordingly, it is now a criminal offense to participate in, finance or support such involvement in a terrorist organization. According to NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, the country fulfills Turkey’s conditions for membership in the alliance. “Sweden has taken significant concrete steps to address Turkey’s concerns,” Stoltenberg said after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Turkey must drop its 13-month blockade on Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Yesterday, Stoltenberg took part in celebrations in Ankara to swear in re-elected President Erdogan. Before his trip to Turkey, he announced that Sweden would join the military alliance “as soon as possible”.
A decision must be made before the summit in Lithuania
Like Finland, Sweden applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Both countries thus broke a long tradition of extensive military neutrality. Finland was accepted as NATO’s 31st member on 4 April. On the other hand, Sweden’s entry is constantly blocked not only by Turkey, but also by Hungary. All NATO countries must agree to new membership.
The time for agreement is pressing. Sweden’s accession to the alliance should be clarified during the NATO summit on July 11 and 12 in Lithuania. As far as that is concerned, Stoltenberg is optimistic: the goal is “absolutely possible”.
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