OSLO
\nNATO on Thursday ramped up pressure on its member Turkiye to drop its objections to Sweden\u2019s membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month.
\nFearing that they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO\u2019s security umbrella. Finland became NATO\u2019s 31st member country in April.
\nNATO must agree unanimously for countries to join. Turkiye\u2019s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terrorist organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.
\nHungary has also delayed its approval, but the reasons why have not been made publicly clear.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s time for Sweden to join now,\u201d Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told reporters in Oslo, where she was hosting a meeting with her counterparts to prepare for NATO\u2019s July 11-12 summit in Lithuania.
\nNATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that he would travel to Ankara \u201cin the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden.\u201d He was unable to provide a precise date for his trip.
\n\u201cI\u2019m confident that also Hungary will ratify the accession protocol,\u201d Stoltenberg said.
\nGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that \u201cit is essential that we can finally welcome Sweden as the 32nd member.\u201d She stressed that the Swedish government has Berlin\u2019s \u201cfull support.\u201d
\nSweden\u2019s foreign minister, Tobias Billstr\u00f6m, said that \u201cit is time for Turkiye and Hungary to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to NATO.\u201d He said that \u201ceverything (that) bars Sweden joining NATO will be seen as wine for (Russian president Vladimir) Putin.\u201d
\nFor months Sweden, Finland and Turkiye have been holding talks to try to address Ankara\u2019s concerns. Billstr\u00f6m said that he expects things to be made clear at a new meeting of this \u201cpermanent joint mechanism\u201d in coming weeks.
\nHe noted that as of Thursday Sweden had tightened its antiterrorism laws. It is now it illegal to finance, recruit for or publicly encourage \u201ca terrorist organization,\u201d or to travel abroad with the intention of joining such groups.
\nThe time may be ripe for movement. Sweden\u2019s membership became embroiled in campaigning for elections in Turkiye, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won on Sunday. Erdogan has also been seeking upgraded US fighter jets, and Washington signaled this week that they might be delivered.
\n\u201cI spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So let\u2019s get that done,\u201d Biden said Monday.
\nOn Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the issues of Sweden\u2019s membership and the fighter jets were distinct. However, he stressed that the completion of both would dramatically strengthen European security.
\n\u201cBoth of these are vital, in our judgment, to European security,\u201d Blinken told reporters. \u201cWe believe that both should go forward as quickly as possible; that is to say Sweden\u2019s accession and moving forward on the F-16 package more broadly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OSLO NATO on Thursday ramped up pressure on its member Turkiye to drop its objections to Sweden\u2019s membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month. Fearing that they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-334854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n