Swedish FM hopes to join NATO before 2023
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Thursday that she hopes her country joins NATO before the end of the year as the Turkish parliament still has not ratified the country’s accession.
Linde tells the Swedish news agency TT that she hopes Sweden joins NATO at the same time as Finland before 2023.
In response to Türkiye’s concerns and ongoing talks, she said the Turkish government must first submit such a proposal to parliament.
“They continue to say that they first want to see concrete results from the trilateral agreement. And that is what we are working on. The trilateral agreement between Sweden, Finland and Turkey was concluded in June. There, among other things, increased cooperation against terrorism is promised,” said the top diplomat .
“Türkiye submits the request with extradition, and so it is handled according to our legislation and the European convention on extradition and it is also stated in the agreement,” she added.
Linde said that the discussions with Türkiye were mainly focused on “Sweden strengthening its anti-terrorist legislation, which was already in place before the agreement with Türkiye was concluded. Partly, it is about intensifying cooperation in the fight against terrorism.”
She said Sweden hopes to join NATO alongside Finland, and the Finnish government and president have stated unequivocally that they are on the same page.
Asked about the possibility of Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s membership taking longer than expected, possibly until the summer of 2023, Linde said: “It is a possibility that we have to take (into account). Therefore, the security guarantees we received from the US, The UK, the Nordic countries and some other countries are very, very important.”
Linde’s words came just a week after supporters of the PKK and its Syrian branch, the YPG, again held demonstrations in Sweden’s capital despite the agreement. The protesters carried flags symbolizing the YPG/PKK and unfurled a poster of Öcalan.
Speaking on the issue on Friday, Defense Minister Akar told reporters in Brussels: “Of course we want NATO to become stronger and expand. We have no problem with NATO’s open door policy. But we say our sensitivities should be respected. NATO is a security organization. One of NATO’s biggest areas of struggle is terrorism. Terrorism is currently a serious problem for all countries.”
“The memorandum is clear. Our stance and policy are also clear and clear in this sense. There are commitments that Sweden and Finland have signed. We express that these must be fulfilled. When this is done, the Riksdag will decide. We are also closely following the situation in Sweden and Finland. Unfortunately, we still see that some provocative actions and images continue to appear in these countries. We expect both Sweden and Finland to take concrete steps,” emphasized Akar.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said Turkey would continue to oppose Sweden’s NATO membership until its demands for a tougher Swedish stance against “terrorist organizations” are met.
“As long as terrorist organizations are demonstrating in Swedish streets and terrorists are present in their parliament, our attitude to the issue will not be positive,” Erdoğan told reporters at the European Political Community meeting in Prague.
For Sweden and Finland to become NATO members, their applications must be ratified by all 30 NATO members. So far, 28 have already done so – only Türkiye and Hungary still have votes left.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
However, Türkiye expressed objections to the membership bids and criticized the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
A trilateral memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid signed among the countries in June states that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the PKK’s Syrian offshoots, the YPG and PYD, or the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ) – the group behind the defeated 2016 coup in Turkey.
Sweden and Finland agreed earlier this summer to assure Turkey of their support against security risks.
Among Turkey’s demands were the return of some suspects and that Sweden lift its arms embargo.
Sweden said it is ready to supply weapons to Turkey as part of its bid to join NATO.
Finland and Sweden also agreed to address Turkey’s ongoing deportation or extradition requests for terror suspects.