Sweden will not join NATO at the Vilnius Summit
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Sweden It will not be able to join the alliance during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, scheduled for July 11-12, because Turkey’s approval of the application by this time is not available.
Stoltenberg said, Thursday, at a press conference held in Brussels: “What is possible and what we want to achieve is a positive decision at the summit, so that Turkey agrees to ratify, but there is still work to be done,” according to the Russian “Tass” agency.
“reach a political decision”
He also added that “there will be no ratification (of accession). Sweden) by Monday, but we can come to a political decision.”
He also added that a meeting will be held in Vilnius on July 10 with the leaders of Turkey and Sweden to continue work on resolving the existing differences.
While he warned that “any new delay in Sweden’s accession will be welcomed by the PKK and Russian President (Vladimir) Putin.”
Judging a Turk of Kurdish origin
Thursday in Sweden, a Turkish man of Kurdish origin was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison after being convicted of “attempting to finance terrorism” in favor of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to AFP.
This ruling comes after Sweden’s anti-terrorism law was tightened and came into force in July 2022.
However, a demonstration in Sweden last week during which a copy of the Qur’an was burned contributed to inflaming the situation between the two countries.
Since June 2022
It is noteworthy that Sweden has been “invited” to the alliance since June 2022, but Turkey is blocking its accession, which must be approved by all 31 member states.
Ankara repeatedly accuses Stockholm of harboring what it describes as terrorist elements involved in the 2016 coup attempt. It also demanded that it hand over approximately 120 members and partisans affiliated with or supporters of the PKK, whose names were previously submitted by the Turkish authorities.
While US President Joe Biden is expected to put more pressure on Sweden’s side in the coming days. During a meeting in Washington, Wednesday, Biden told the Swedish prime minister that he was “looking forward” to his country joining NATO.
