“The decision rests with Turkey”: Sweden awaits Ankara’s approval to join NATO
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has refused to fulfill all of Turkey’s wishes when Ankara stops Stockholm’s NATO application. Kristersson simply argued that Sweden cannot meet some of the demands that Turkey has proposed because the country is still struggling to get Turkey’s nod over its NATO membership. In May 2022, Sweden together with its Nordic neighbor Finland decided to apply for membership in NATO due to the chaos that erupted after the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, the countries faced challenges from countries such as Hungary and Turkey, which tried to stop the formal inclusion of both countries in the US-led alliance.
“Turkey has confirmed that we have done what we said we would do, but it also says that it wants things that we cannot, that we do not want to give it. Now the decision rests with Turkey,” the Swedish Prime Minister said on Sunday .Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson attended a security conference that was also attended by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.During the conference, Sweden’s prime minister highlighted the trilateral memorandum signed between Turkey, Sweden and Finland in 2022 and made it clear that Stolkhom has cooperated with the Erdogan administration to a large extent .In the agreement, the countries agreed on several commitments, including recognizing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization.
The NATO chief hopes for a quick resolution of the deadlock
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hopes both countries will join NATO “as early as this year.” Even the Swedish Prime Minister has expressed his optimism about the deadlock. Kristersson exclaimed: “We are confident that Turkey will make a decision, we just don’t know when.” The prime minister also mentioned the fact that Turkey’s final decision will also depend on Ankara’s current internal political situation. When asked if the Erdogan administration will ratify the Stolkholmars’ bid, the Swedish prime minister joked that this was “impossible to know”.
At the same time, Finland has made it clear that it is in no rush to join the alliance. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto claimed that even if Finland’s bid is accepted before Sweden, the country will still wait for its Scandinavian neighbor. Keeping the promise to join the North Atlantic alliance “hand in hand”, Finland’s FM claimed, “Finland is not in such a hurry to join NATO that we cannot wait for Sweden to get the green light.” While 30 NATO members have already ratified both nations’ bids, only Hungary and Turkey have yet to ratify their applications. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has promised in 2022 that his parliament will approve the accession applications for both Sweden and Finland. Hence, the ball is in Turkey’s court as Ankara remains the main venue for the Scandinavian bid.