Sweden amends constitution to toughen anti-terror legislation amid Turkey’s extradition requests
Sweden’s Riksdag on Wednesday adopted a constitutional amendment that makes it possible to adopt tougher anti-terror laws, a key demand from Turkey to approve Stockholm’s bid for NATO membership, Turkish minute reported, citing Agence France-Presse.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-standing policy of non-alignment and applied to join the military alliance.
But Turkey has blocked Sweden’s and Finland’s applications for NATO membership, accusing Stockholm in particular of being a haven for “terrorists”.
The amendment, which was passed by 278 votes in Sweden’s 349-member parliament, makes it possible to introduce new laws to “restrict freedom of association in the case of associations that engage in or support terrorism”.
According to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Constitutional Affairs, which recommended that MPs approve the proposal, it will enable a “further criminalization of participation in a terrorist organization or a ban on terrorist organizations.”
Experts have said new legislation would make it easier to prosecute members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), blacklisted by Ankara and most of its Western allies.
The change comes into effect on January 1.
During a visit to Ankara last week, Sweden’s new Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, described the constitutional amendment as a “big step”.
“Sweden will take big steps at the end of the year and the beginning of next year that will give Swedish judicial authorities more muscle to fight terrorism,” he said at a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In Sweden, a constitutional amendment must be approved by two separate Riksdags with a parliamentary election in between.
The first vote took place under Sweden’s former left-wing government in April, before Sweden’s formal decision to apply for NATO membership in mid-May.
Only the country’s Left Party expressed opposition to the change.