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BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that Sweden and Turkey have made some progress in talks aimed at overcoming President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s objections to the northern country’s entry into NATO, but gaps remain in their positions and their leaders will meet next week to discuss them. .
NATO had hoped to solve the problems before its July 11-12 summit in Lithuania. Sweden’s entry would be a symbolically powerful moment and the latest sign that Russia’s war on Ukraine is pushing countries to join the alliance. These hopes have almost been dashed.
Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting that he, Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson would hold talks in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on Monday – the eve of the summit – in an effort to “fill the gap we still see”.
“We all agreed that we’ve made good progress. We all agreed that Sweden’s full membership is in the security interests of all allies, and we all want to finish this process as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said.
But he added: “There are some unresolved issues. We are dealing with them now. We will work on that over the weekend.”
Fearing for their security, neighboring Sweden and Finland ended their longstanding policy of military non-alignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and applied to join NATO.
Only Türkiye and Hungary have delayed Sweden’s membership. The other 29 allies, Stoltenberg and Sweden, said the country had done enough to meet Turkey’s demands. Sweden changed its constitution, amended anti-terror laws and lifted the arms embargo on Turkey, among other concessions.
Now is the time for Sweden to join the coalition. I was clear, Stoltenberg repeated, that Sweden had fulfilled the commitments it made “to Turkey.
But Turki accuses Sweden of being soft on groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including Kurdish militant groups and people linked to the 2016 coup attempt. NATO requires unanimous approval from all 31 members to expand it.
In a new development just before the meeting, a Turkish man was convicted in Sweden of attempted aggravated extortion, possession of weapons and attempted financing of terrorism, saying he was acting on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Stockholm District Court sentenced Yahya Gonkur to 4 and a half years in prison for the crimes, after which he will be expelled from Sweden and prevented from returning. Judge Mannes Wiggin said this was the first time a Swedish court had sentenced a person for financing terrorism for the party.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has waged an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. It is unclear whether the Swedish court’s action will have any effect on Erdogan’s thinking.
Hungary also insists on approving Sweden’s candidacy, but has not clearly stated its concerns publicly. NATO officials expect Hungary to follow suit once Türkiye lifts its objections.
At last week’s EU summit, Kristerson said he spoke twice to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and “both times assured that Hungary will not be late”.
Turkish is a different matter. And the Quran-burning protests, in which the media vastly outnumbered the participants, outside a mosque in Stockholm raised tensions. Police allowed the protest, citing freedom of expression, after a court overturned a ban on similar burnings of the Islamic Quran.
Erdogan criticized Sweden last week for allowing the protest. Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman Zeki Akturk denounced what he called “a vicious attack on our sacred values carried out in the name of so-called freedom of expression”.
“The incident of burning the Qur’an, which took place on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, is an indication of the extent to which we justify our reservations (about Sweden),” the official Anadolu Agency quoted Akturk as saying.
Other than recent events, Erdogan criticized Sweden during his election campaign in May, and NATO officials were expecting him to back down after his re-election. Erdogan is also seeking upgraded F-16 fighter jets from the United States, but Biden has proposed approving Sweden’s membership first.
Asked if it was clear to him what Turkey actually wanted from Sweden, Stoltenberg said: “I understand what President Erdogan is asking. We have met many times and discussed in detail.”
NATO had hoped to solve the problems before its July 11-12 summit in Lithuania. Sweden’s entry would be a symbolically powerful moment and the latest sign that Russia’s war on Ukraine is pushing countries to join the alliance. These hopes have almost been dashed.
Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting that he, Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson would hold talks in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on Monday – the eve of the summit – in an effort to “fill the gap we still see”.
“We all agreed that we’ve made good progress. We all agreed that Sweden’s full membership is in the security interests of all allies, and we all want to finish this process as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said.
But he added: “There are some unresolved issues. We are dealing with them now. We will work on that over the weekend.”
Fearing for their security, neighboring Sweden and Finland ended their longstanding policy of military non-alignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and applied to join NATO.
Only Türkiye and Hungary have delayed Sweden’s membership. The other 29 allies, Stoltenberg and Sweden, said the country had done enough to meet Turkey’s demands. Sweden changed its constitution, amended anti-terror laws and lifted the arms embargo on Turkey, among other concessions.
Now is the time for Sweden to join the coalition. I was clear, Stoltenberg repeated, that Sweden had fulfilled the commitments it made “to Turkey.
But Turki accuses Sweden of being soft on groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including Kurdish militant groups and people linked to the 2016 coup attempt. NATO requires unanimous approval from all 31 members to expand it.
In a new development just before the meeting, a Turkish man was convicted in Sweden of attempted aggravated extortion, possession of weapons and attempted financing of terrorism, saying he was acting on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Stockholm District Court sentenced Yahya Gonkur to 4 and a half years in prison for the crimes, after which he will be expelled from Sweden and prevented from returning. Judge Mannes Wiggin said this was the first time a Swedish court had sentenced a person for financing terrorism for the party.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has waged an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. It is unclear whether the Swedish court’s action will have any effect on Erdogan’s thinking.
Hungary also insists on approving Sweden’s candidacy, but has not clearly stated its concerns publicly. NATO officials expect Hungary to follow suit once Türkiye lifts its objections.
At last week’s EU summit, Kristerson said he spoke twice to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and “both times assured that Hungary will not be late”.
Turkish is a different matter. And the Quran-burning protests, in which the media vastly outnumbered the participants, outside a mosque in Stockholm raised tensions. Police allowed the protest, citing freedom of expression, after a court overturned a ban on similar burnings of the Islamic Quran.
Erdogan criticized Sweden last week for allowing the protest. Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman Zeki Akturk denounced what he called “a vicious attack on our sacred values carried out in the name of so-called freedom of expression”.
“The incident of burning the Qur’an, which took place on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, is an indication of the extent to which we justify our reservations (about Sweden),” the official Anadolu Agency quoted Akturk as saying.
Other than recent events, Erdogan criticized Sweden during his election campaign in May, and NATO officials were expecting him to back down after his re-election. Erdogan is also seeking upgraded F-16 fighter jets from the United States, but Biden has proposed approving Sweden’s membership first.
Asked if it was clear to him what Turkey actually wanted from Sweden, Stoltenberg said: “I understand what President Erdogan is asking. We have met many times and discussed in detail.”
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