VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has agreed to send Sweden’s NATO accession protocol to the Turkish parliament “as soon as possible.”
Stoltenberg made the announcement after talks with Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the eve of the annual NATO summit. Leaders of alliance member states formally convene on Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
From the archives (June 2023): U.S. and allies increase pressure on Turkey to back Swedish accession to NATO after Erdoğan’s re-election
Sweden’s NATO accession has been held up by objections from Turkey since last year. The governments in Stockholm and Helsinki had initially indicated that their bids to join the alliance could be considered in essence a package deal. Finland ultimately shifted gears and joined this spring while Sweden worked to overcome Erdoğan’s reservations amid hope that they might melt away following his re-election bid.
From the archives (June 2023): Turkey’s Erdoğan takes oath of office after re-election deemed free if not fair by outside observers
Prior to traveling to Vilnius, Erdoğan appeared to have introduced a new condition for approving Sweden’s membership in NATO, calling on European countries to “open the way” for Turkey to join the European Union.
The surprise announcement by Erdoğan before departing for a NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital added new uncertainty to Sweden’s bid to become the Atlantic alliance’s 32nd member.
Erdoğan has blocked Sweden’s NATO path for months, rationalizing his position by arguing Sweden was soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers security threats. Protests in Sweden involving the burning of the Quran have also been cited.
Erdoğan, alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is considered significantly friendlier than any other head of government or state in a NATO member country toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Erdoğan had not previously, at least in public, linked his country’s ambition to join the EU with Sweden’s effort to become a NATO member.
“Turkey has been waiting at the door of the European Union for over 50 years now, and almost all of the NATO member countries are now members of the European Union,” Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul. “I am making this call to these countries that have kept Turkey waiting at the gates of the European Union for more than 50 years.”
Erdoğan’s office had said previously that the Turkish leader told U.S. President Joe Biden during a telephone call Sunday that Turkey wanted a “clear and strong” message of support for Turkey’s EU ambitions from the NATO leaders. The White House readout of the Biden-Erdoğan call did not mention the issue of Turkish EU membership.
MarketWatch contributed.
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