BarcelonaSweden already has one foot in NATO, after the Parliament of Turkey has finally approved the entry of the Nordic country into the military alliance. It thus overcomes one of the major obstacles in the process, which started more than a year and a half ago. After the Parliament’s green light, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, must sign the ratification. But Sweden still needs the other leg to finish entering NATO, because it is still pending the approval of Hungary.
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Erdogan’s AKP and its ally, the ultra-nationalist MHP, had already been in favor of Sweden’s entry into the military alliance during a previous foreign affairs committee debate, so it was assumed that the Turkish lower house would endorse the proposal, considering that these two formations have a majority.
Stockholm applied to join NATO in May 2022, along with Finland, after a rapid change of political stance on the military alignment as they were threatened by Russia following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine The whole thing seemed like an easy process, considering that both countries are members of the European Union and already cooperated with the Atlantic Alliance. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blocked it, arguing that the two countries harbor people considered terrorists by Ankara. In April last year, Finland cleared that hurdle and became NATO’s 31st member, but its Nordic neighbor remained stagnant.
Sweden implemented a new anti-terror law in May last year and increased penalties for people involved in terrorist organizations. In this way he tried to soften the position of Turkey, which accuses Stockholm of hosting members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other Kurdish groups that it also considers terrorists, such as the Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the movement by Fethullah Gülen.
Although Erdogan agreed to lift the blockade of Sweden last June, at the last summit of the Atlantic Alliance, the process has been dragging on. Among the causes are pro-Kurdish demonstrations and Koran burnings in Stockholm last year, which angered Turkey and many countries in the Arab world. According to an investigation by Finnish public television Yle, behind this delay would be the tentacles of Vladimir Putin and his secret services, who devised a plan to sabotage the two countries’ access to the Atlantic Alliance, as confirmed by intelligence Finnish intelligence.
Turkey and Hungary are the least belligerent NATO members with Russia and have often opposed European and US sanctions against Moscow as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, Erdogan has used the Swedish process to pressure the United States. Turkey is negotiating the purchase of F-16 fighter jets, a transaction planned for years but blocked by the US Congress. “The positive developments we expect from both the United States on the F-16 issue and Canada on their promises [d’aixecar l’embargament d’armes] they could help our Parliament to have a favorable opinion on Sweden… Everything is related,” the Turkish president said in mid-December. So far, no progress has been made public on this issue.
Earrings from Hungary
Although Turkey appeared to be the main obstacle for Sweden, it still lacks the approval of Hungary, which rebukes Stockholm’s criticism, along the lines of Brussels, of the rule of law and the state of democracy in the Central European country.
On Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on social media that he had sent an invitation to his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, to visit Budapest to “negotiate” Sweden’s accession to NATO. Orbán had assured that his country would not be the last to approve the Swedish request, but it will eventually be, unless Erdogan greatly delays ratification. “I don’t see any reason to negotiate in this situation. But we can continue to maintain the dialogue and discuss aspects,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
2024-01-23 20:08:47
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