Sunak calls Erdogan to convince him to lift the veto on Sweden’s entry into NATO

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July 8 () –

The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has spoken with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to convince him to lift the veto he maintains against Sweden’s entry into NATO; a country that Ankara accuses of protecting elements considered terrorists by the Turkish government.

“The prime minister has emphasized the enormous benefits of Sweden’s NATO membership and the Swedish government’s progress in addressing Turkey’s legitimate security concerns,” according to a statement sent by Downing Street.

In this sense, the British Prime Minister hopes that Sweden’s incorporation into the Atlantic Alliance will finally proceed with the lifting of the veto “as soon as possible”, in a telephone communication held a few hours before the start of the NATO summit next Monday. in Vilnius (Lithuania).

Erdogan, however, already declared this past Friday his intention to maintain the veto on Sweden, a country that is home to sympathizers of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), at war with Ankara for its autonomy in southeastern Turkey.

Last month, a new law came into force in Sweden that empowers the country’s prosecutors to indict individuals who support terrorist organizations, but something insufficient for the president.