Turkey expects to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession ‘within weeks,’ says the Swedish minister. It was announced on Wednesday by Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs that Turkey has informed Sweden that it anticipates ratifying its long-delayed admission to the NATO military alliance within the next few weeks.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the previous year, Sweden and Finland submitted their applications to join NATO. However, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whose nation is a member of NATO, voiced his disapproval of what he referred to as the two nations’ collective support for organizations that Ankara considers to be terrorist organizations.
Sweden has been waiting while Turkey approved Finland’s April membership application. “I had a bilateral with my colleague, the Turkish foreign minister… where he told me that he expected the ratification to take place within weeks,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said to reporters before the second day of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers over the ratification of the agreement.
In the immediate aftermath, Turkey did not provide any confirmation or statement. Turkey has requested that Sweden take additional steps to control local members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the European Union and the United States of America both classify as terrorist organizations.
In response, Stockholm presented a bill proposing anti-terrorism measures that would make it illegal to be a member of a terrorist organization. Additionally, the plan would remove limits on the shipment of weaponry to Turkey. It asserts that it has fulfilled its obligations under a contract executed the previous year.
The completion of Sweden’s ratification was something that some members of NATO had anticipated would have occurred by now to allow for an accession ceremony to take place on the margins of the summit in Brussels.
The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, did not provide a specific date but stated it would be “within weeks.” He anticipated Sweden would follow through with ratifying its NATO agreement within a few weeks. The previous day, he shared such information with me,” Billstrom stated.
He expressed opinions that aligned with those of a senior State Department official.
“I will say the summary of the meeting was that it will be done before the end of the year,” the official said on Tuesday, speaking under the condition that they remain anonymous.
Hungary has yet to ratify Sweden’s membership in NATO, which is likewise pending completion. According to Billstrom, “Prime Minister) Viktor Orban has repeatedly stated that Hungary will not be the last to ratify Sweden’s membership.” Billstrom also mentioned that Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reiterated this statement once more during their conversation on Tuesday.
This indicates that Ankara is in a stronger position to control the situation than Budapest. At the same time, when white smoke comes from Ankara, we anticipate seeing white smoke from Budapest,” stated Billstrom.
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