Swedes reject legal concessions to win Turkey’s NATO consent, survey shows
(Bloomberg) — Swedish voters support their government in saying the Nordic country should refrain from compromising its legal principles to win Turkey’s ratification of its NATO bid, according to a poll.
Sweden should continue to comply with its laws in the face of Turkish demands, even if it means suspending its membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to 79% of respondents to a survey commissioned by Dagens Nyheter newspaper and published late on Monday. In contrast, 10% said that Sweden should try to join as soon as possible, regardless of whether this means concessions on its legal principles.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO since they submitted bids in May, arguing that the Nordic countries must do more to fight terrorism, including extraditing people Turkey accuses of having terrorist links. A few weeks ago, Sweden’s highest court ruled against the extradition of a man who Turkey has said was involved in an attempted coup against the president in 2016.
Both Nordic governments have insisted they will step up the fight against terrorism, while stressing the independence of the courts in deciding extraditions. 28 out of 30 NATO countries have ratified their entry into the bloc, and Hungary is also staying.
The poll also showed 60% approval for Sweden’s NATO application, an all-time high. The survey of 1,248 respondents was conducted by Ipsos via online surveys and no margin of error was available.
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