Turkey Clears Path for Sweden’s NATO Membership Amid Renewed EU Talks
Following extended negotiations, Turkey has given its approval to advance Sweden’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, engaged in a tri-party discussion with Stoltenberg, resulting in Turkey agreeing to expedite Sweden’s accession protocol for parliamentary ratification.
Turkey had previously blocked Sweden’s bid over claims that Sweden harbored members of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Gülen movement. However, after a series of counterterrorism initiatives against the PKK by Sweden and resumed arms exports to Turkey, the objections were lifted.
Erdoğan, before leaving for the NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, linked Turkey’s support for Sweden’s NATO accession to the potential revival of EU membership talks with Ankara, a move that could disrupt the unity of the alliance. This development occurs as several Swedish organizations, including the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, express concerns over the nation’s NATO membership, suggesting it could escalate global tensions.
