Erdogan’s government has been blocking Sweden’s entry into the military alliance for a year. NATO secretary general says the Swedes have already met Turkey’s demands and the “time” has come to confirm membership. NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg addressed an appeal to the president on Sunday (06/04) Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his government to veto Sweden’s candidacy for the military alliance, stating that Stockholm has satisfied Ankara’s requests.
Turkey has been blocking Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for 13 months, arguing that it considers the country too benevolent towards the Kurdish activists it hosts on its territory, people whom Erdogan classifies as “terrorists”.
“Sweden has taken concrete and significant steps to address Turkey’s concerns,” Stoltenberg said before a meeting with Erdogan, who was sworn in on Saturday for his third presidential term.
The Norwegian Stoltenberg stressed that the “time” has come to confirm Sweden’s membership, before the NATO summit scheduled for 11-12 July in Lithuania.
“Sweden’s accession to NATO will strengthen its security, but it will also make Turkey stronger,” added Stoltenberg, who hopes to “finalize Sweden’s membership as soon as possible.”
The meeting with Erdogan in Istanbul was “productive”, according to Stoltenberg. The meeting was attended by the new foreign minister and former director of the Turkish secret services, Hakan Fidan.
Turkey and Hungary are the only ones among the 31 NATO member countries that have not yet ratified Sweden’s accession to the alliance.
Sweden aimed to join NATO at the same time as Finland, which became the organization’s 31st member on April 4.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the two Nordic countries have agreed to abandon their traditional position of neutrality.
In response to a request from Ankara, the Swedish Parliament recently approved a new law that prohibits activities related to extremist groups from 1 June, strengthening the country’s anti-terrorism legislation.
Swedish Chancellor Tobias Billström stressed at the time that the country satisfies “all the conditions” to withdraw the latest objections to the country’s entry into NATO.
“Sweden has fulfilled its obligations,” insisted the NATO secretary general, who attended Erdogan’s inauguration along with dozens of leaders from around the world.
jps (AFP, ots)
Source: Terra
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