The ratification of membership can still take until autumn, writes ‘s NATO special reporter Maria Stenroos.
A big stone has been removed from Sweden’s path to NATO membership, said the prime minister Ulf Kristersson Monday evening. Kristersson had just finished negotiations with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg with.
Turkey promised to confirm Sweden’s NATO membership “as soon as possible”.
As soon as possible does not mean immediately. Papers are recycled in committees and parliament. The summer break of the Turkish parliament is approaching, and if the issue is not dealt with before then, the decision may drag on until October. Three months is a long time in this world situation, and the search has been on since the spring of last year.
Hungary has also not yet accepted Sweden’s request, but it has promised that it will not be the last.
Turkey’s last twist With Sweden, Monday started with gloomy signs. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Sweden cannot join NATO if Turkey does not gradually begin to become a member of the European Union.
The confusion sounded incomprehensible, and Germany, the largest country in the EU, immediately announced that the issues were not related in any way.
By ten in the evening, the situation had completely changed. The incredulous atmosphere subsided when the countries finally agreed and Turkey gave up blocking Sweden’s entry into NATO.
Sweden and Turkey have been negotiating NATO terms for a year, mostly with Finland participating. On Monday, when the consensus was reached, Finland was not there.
A year ago In Madrid, Finland, Sweden and Turkey agreed on cooperation between the three, which will continue into the future. Turkey also concluded a bilateral security agreement with Sweden. In it, Sweden promises to fight terrorism and not to support Kurdish extremist organizations. In his own opinion, however, it didn’t agree with anything that hadn’t been talked about before.
You cannot become a member of NATO if it is not suitable for all allies. In this security situation, the wait has become painfully long for Sweden and many NATO countries.
It’s not quite clear, which Turkey finally achieved with its braking. For Sweden and NATO, the situation seemed awkward, when time after time they had to bother and humble themselves to negotiate issues that did not seem to be really related to NATO’s membership criteria.
Linking EU membership to NATO membership could have been Erdogan’s provocation. In Turkey’s view, a corresponding provocation is the fact that the United States is linking the F-16 fighter jet sales to Sweden’s acceptance into NATO.
Sweden’s membership has also been a commodity for Turkey. It has been worthwhile to block it as long as it has been useful for Turkey, for example, in negotiations on NATO’s defense plans. On Monday evening, it was announced that the NATO countries have finally agreed on common defense plans.
In the evening, Kristersson also said that Sweden is willing to promote Turkey’s visa freedom in the European Union. EU affairs had therefore been negotiated in any case.
of EU affairs popping up is amazing because even though Sweden and Turkey have been negotiating for a year, this has not come up before.
Turkey’s membership issues have not been talked about much in the EU in general since the country managed to create some sort of balance of terror with the EU after the immigration crisis in 2016. Turkey prevents asylum seekers from entering the EU area. In return, it was offered money and the EU promised to promote visa freedom.
In terms of NATO however, unity in Sweden’s membership is the most important thing. When Sweden becomes a member of NATO, NATO will be intact in the north, and the Baltic Sea will practically become NATO’s inland sea. At the bottom of the bay is Russia, the other coastal states are in NATO.