Recep Tayyip Erdogan sets new requirements to approve Sweden’s NATO application.
The Turkish president wants to start negotiations on Turkish EU membership, writes AFP.
– Open the way for Turkey’s membership in the European Union and then we will open it for Sweden, he says in a televised appearance before tomorrow’s summit.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he supports Swedish NATO membership if the EU begins negotiations to let Turkey join the EU, AFP reports.
– First, open the way for Turkey’s membership in the European Union, and then we will open it for Sweden, just as we did for Finland, he told reporters in a televised appearance before the summit in Vilnius.
“Almost all NATO members are EU members”
Already on Sunday, Erdogan presented his EU demands to US President Joe Biden during a telephone conversation between the parties.
– Almost all NATO members are EU members. I now turn to the countries that have made Turkey wait for over 50 years, and I will speak to them again in Vilnius, says the president.
TV4 Nyheterna’s foreign correspondent Jonas Björck is not surprised by the new requirement.
– He is an incredibly driven and skilled power player on the international level. The fact that he now, just before this meeting, pulls this ace out of his sleeve just shows how driven and skilled he is as a negotiator, he says.
– They are not really supposed to talk about the EU at this meeting, but military and defense issues. So this is outside the regular agenda by several miles.
“Confidence in the negotiation card he is sitting on”
Aras Lindh, analyst at the Foreign Policy Institute, says that Erdogan is using Sweden as a tool for his own interests.
– I suspect that Erdogan has a little too much faith in the negotiation card he is sitting on.
He does not believe that Turkish membership in the EU can become a reality in the short term.
– I find it difficult to see that Erdogan could keep Sweden out of NATO for as long as it would take for Turkey to complete its application process, he says.
He also repeated Turkey’s previous demands on Sweden to fulfill the commitments agreed upon by the parties in the agreement between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, according to the Anadolu news agency.
Not related to F16 purchase
He also stated that Turkey’s possible purchase of F16 planes from the United States is not related to the Swedish NATO application.
The summit begins tomorrow.
– I am convinced that we will reach an end to this and that it will be positive, said Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) earlier in the day.
Later on Monday, the president will meet Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson before the meeting.
The text is updated.