Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden’s application to join the Western military alliance before a July summit. Sweden and Finland applied for membership together following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April, but Turkey says Sweden hasn't fully addressed its security concerns. NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time the leaders of member nations meet in Lithuania’s capital on July 11-12. Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying that Turkey’s attitude to Sweden's accession wasn't “positive.” Senior officials from NATO, Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday.

Turkey’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.

A series of separate demonstrations in Stockholm, including a protest by an anti-Islam activist who burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy, also angered Turkish officials.

NATO requires the unanimous approval of all existing members to expand, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have not yet ratified Sweden’s request to join.

  • maynarkh@feddit.nlEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    This might be unpopular, but I don’t think it matters. I imagine Sweden is very cooperative with NATO anyways, like Finland was integrated even before its accession. Finland is much more important, it lets NATO patrol Russian borders with more legitimacy.

    Also, it’s not like NATO’s function is anything more than a protection against Russia, and maybe to a very much lesser degree countries like Serbia. I don’t expect NATO to be unified against China for example, as long as China stays peaceful.

    And it’s not like Russia will make any more invasions any time soon.