IRIA News

NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg hosted a meeting between high-level officials from Sweden, Turkey, and Finland at NATO headquarters on July 6, 2023. The meeting was the last-minute push to attain ratification from Ankara over Sweden’s accession before NATO’s annual summit, however, it failed to convince Turkey to lift its block.

Turkey’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Brussels on the invitation of NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg. Fidan met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Tobias Billstrom and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen. The trilateral meeting was Sweden’s last chance to push for accession into NATO before the alliance leaders meet for an annual summit in Lithuania next week (July 11-12).

The mediator of the trilateral meeting and NATO chief said that Swedish membership was “within reach” and the issues will now be discussed between the leaders of Sweden and Turkey at the NATO annual summit. Stoltenberg said he would convene a meeting between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Vilnius with the aim of bridging the gap between the two sides.

“My main ambition is now to get this agreed by the summit,” he told reporters. “All Allies stand together against terrorism, and at next week’s NATO Summit, we will recommit to the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Stoltenberg said.

The NATO secretary general added that “We all agreed that we have made good progress. We all agreed that the full membership of Sweden is in the security interest of all Allies, and we all want to complete this process as soon as possible.” Stoltenberg stressed that “demonstrations against Türkiye and against NATO in Sweden are aimed at blocking Sweden’s membership, disrupting counter-terrorism cooperation, and weakening NATO.”

Following the trilateral meeting, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said that Sweden has made progress in meeting Ankara’s demands by tightening its anti-terrorism legislation. “Sweden has taken steps in terms of legislative changes, but legislative changes need to be reflected in practice,” he said. Fidan reminded his counterparts about Ankara’s concerns regarding Stockholm’s leniency towards the Kurdish organizations that Turkey deems to be terrorist groups.

Fidan also brought up the recent anti-Turkish public protests in Sweden in which activists have held the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed militia that has fought the Turkish state for decades. He also objected to Stockholm’s decision to allow a protest last week in which Islam’s holy book Quran was burnt outside a mosque.

Sweden says that it has fulfilled all the demands agreed on in negotiations with Turkey, including new anti-terrorism legislation. “We are hoping and looking for a positive decision next week,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told reporters in Brussels after the meeting. “The process is continuing and we of course are working very intensively in the coming days in order for us to become members of NATO.”

NATO requires all existing members to ratify the applicants, typically through parliamentary assent. At the Madrid Summit in 2022, all allies agreed to invite Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance except Turkey and Hungary. Finland, Sweden, and Turkey also signed a Trilateral Memorandum last year that assures the implementation of stricter anti-terrorism laws and a Permanent Joint Mechanism to strengthen cooperation.

On July 7, Turkish President Erdogan said that his country still cannot approve Sweden’s accession to NATO. Erdogan said, “We have supported NATO’s open-door policy. We have approved Finland’s membership. But we cannot support those who welcome terrorists. We expect Sweden to fulfill its commitments.”

Finland joined NATO in April 2023 after attaining approval from Turkey, however, Sweden’s membership remains blocked as the negotiations are underway.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Joe Biden received Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at the White House as he assured his support to Sweden’s bid to join the NATO alliance.