Sweden awaits Türkiye's approval for NATO membership
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Sweden is ready for NATO membership and is waiting for Türkiye to approve it. Ankara had said it would approve Sweden's NATO membership on the condition that Stockholm intervenes against terrorist organizations and lifts its arms embargo against Türkiye.
Sweden is ready for NATOmembership, however, it is waiting for Türkiye's approval, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom spoke at the press conference after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Scandinavian and Baltic countries in Riga, the capital of Latvia.
"We are fully ready (for NATO membership) and we are waiting for the approval process to start in Ankara," Billstrom said.
Sweden applied for full membership in the alliance last year. So far, Türkiye and Hungary have not approved the application, although other members have.
At the NATO summit held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, Türkiye announced that it had given a conditional green light to Sweden's membership in the alliance. The Swedish government also announced that it would tighten inspections against terrorist organizations operating in the country.
Stockholm hopes that the Turkish parliament will ratify membership when it convenes for the new legislative session in October, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised at the NATO summit in July.
TERRORISM REACTION TO SWEDEN
Türkiye, which first delayed Sweden's membership on the grounds of Sweden's arms embargo, then on the grounds that Sweden does not deport people it has declared "terrorists" and that it condones terrorist organization PKK's activities, is now delaying Stockholm's application for not banning the burning of the Holy Quran in this country.
The recent attacks on the Quran in Sweden drew the reaction of Türkiye. The ineffective stance of the Stockholm administration against the attacks caused discomfort in Ankara and the Swedish Ambassador to Türkiye was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source: Euronews
