On January 8, local time, Swedish Prime Minister Kristesson held talks with visiting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Salem, Sweden, on the process of Sweden’s accession to NATO. The Swedish government said it might not accept Turkey’s conditions for joining NATO.
On the 8th, Swedish Prime Minister Christosson stated at the meeting that what Turkey wants, Sweden cannot and does not want to give. For example, Turkey wants to extradite a specific person from Sweden, which violates Swedish law and international conventions.
Finnish Foreign Minister Haavisto, who also participated in the meeting, said following Swedish Prime Minister Christosson’s speech that Finland will not join NATO alone, but will wait with Sweden. Haavisto said that Sweden and Finland together form a military strategic whole, and it is not in Finland’s interest to join NATO without Sweden.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, but were opposed by Turkey. According to the protocol, NATO must obtain the “unanimous consent” of its 30 member states before it can admit new members.
After several rounds of negotiations, Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed a memorandum of understanding at the end of June 2022, confirming that Turkey agreed to support Sweden and Finland in joining NATO. “, and agreed to lift restrictions on the export of defense equipment to Turkey.
At the end of 2022, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu stated that Sweden is still far from meeting Turkey’s conditions for joining NATO, and its accession process has just begun.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Picture: flipping through the Facebook of the Turkish Presidential Palace (file photo)
Swedish Prime Minister Christensson held talks with visiting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Salem, Sweden, on the process of Sweden’s accession to NATO.
