The latest attempt to unblock Sweden’s entry into NATO fails ahead of the summit in Vilnius next week. In an emergency meeting held this Thursday at the headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels, Türkiye has refused to lift its ban on Stockholm. And this despite the intense pressure exerted in recent days by both the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenbergas by the president of the United States himself, Joe Biden.
However, Stoltenberg does not give up and has called an emergency meeting between the Turkish president, Recep Tayipp Erdoğanand the Swedish Prime Minister, ulf kristersson, in the Lithuanian capital on Monday, just before the start of the summit. The Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance still awaits a “positive decision”, although he admits that “there are no guarantees”.
In a historic decision, Sweden and Finland applied in May 2022 to join NATO, ending their traditional policy of military neutrality, in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The allies approved his entry into the club at the Madrid summit a year ago now. Finland completed its entry last Aprilbut Sweden has been left behind because neither Turkey nor Hungary have ratified their accession protocol.
[La OTAN aprueba prorrogar el mandato de Stoltenberg hasta el 1 de octubre de 2024]
Erdogan accuses the Stockholm government of providing cover on its territory for activists from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is included in the EU’s black list of terrorist organizations. At the Madrid summit, Turkey signed a trilateral protocol with Sweden and Finland to resolve this issue, but maintains that the Swedes have not yet fulfilled their part. For its part, Hungary has not given clear reasons for its delay in ratification.
In a final attempt to reach an agreement before Vilnius, Stoltenberg had called a four-way meeting on Thursday with Turkey, Sweden and Finland. Previously, Biden received Kristersson at the White House this Wednesday to stage their support for Sweden’s entry into NATO. But this pressure has not served for anything, since the meeting in Brussels has not produced concrete results.
“Sweden has taken some steps in terms of legal changes and has removed defense industry restrictions against Turkey. Legal changes must now be put into practice“said the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidanat the end of the meeting. “We expect a positive position next week, but it is of course a Turkish decision,” says his Swedish counterpart, Tobías Billström.
For his part, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance stressed that the entry of Stockholm “will bring significant military benefits to the entire Alliance”. Adding Sweden “will provide an uninterrupted shield from the Black Sea to the Baltic region,” Stoltenberg says.
Contrary to what Türkiye maintains, The Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance assures that Sweden has fulfilled all the commitments that he assumed in Madrid. In particular, he has reformed his constitution and passed new anti-terrorism legislation, lifted his arms embargo on Turkey, and extradited PKK militants.
“Any further delay in Sweden’s accession would be welcomed by the PKK and President Putin,” Stoltenberg insists. “The entrance to Sweden is close at hand“, it is finished.
