Turkey promised to promote the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership. The countries agreed, among other things, on cooperation against terrorism and that Sweden promotes Turkey’s EU membership.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has agreed to promote Sweden’s NATO membership so that Sweden’s ratification takes place as soon as possible.
The Secretary General of NATO told about it Jens Stoltenberg on Monday evening at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Stoltenberg described Turkey’s decision as historic. According to him, Sweden’s NATO membership improves the security of all NATO countries.
– According to the president, this will happen as quickly as possible. It is up to the country’s parliament to decide how much time it requires, Stoltenberg said.
So what exactly does Sweden and Turkey agree on?
This is how the cooperation between Turkey and Sweden progressed
Sweden and Turkey have worked closely together since the last NATO summit to respond to Turkey’s security concerns.
According to the NATO press release, as part of the process, Sweden has changed its constitution and laws, intensified its anti-terrorist cooperation with Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and has resumed arms exports to Turkey.
Sweden and Finland signed a year ago at the NATO summit in Madrid documentin which the countries commit to intensify cooperation with Turkey, for example against the PKK.
Sweden and Turkey agreed to continue their cooperation within the framework of the Trilateral Permanent Joint Mechanism established at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid and within the framework of the new bilateral security agreement.
Sweden and Turkey meet annually at the ministerial level and establish working groups if necessary, the release states.
Sweden presented a roadmap based on which it will continue to fight terrorism in the long term. According to Sweden, it does not intend to support the Syrian Kurdish armed organization YPG and its political wing PYD, nor the Fetö terrorist organization.
Stoltenberg also confirmed in the press release that NATO condemns terrorism in all its forms. NATO will significantly enhance its work in this field, for example by the Secretary General establishing the position of a special coordinator for the fight against terrorism for the first time in NATO.
Sweden, Turkey and the Secretary General of NATO commit to the principle that there must be no restrictions, obstacles or sanctions in trade and investment in defense equipment between the allies. The countries are working to remove such obstacles, NATO informs.
Sweden and Turkey agreed to enhance economic cooperation through the Turkish-Swedish Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO). Countries seek to maximize their opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investment.
Sweden intends to actively support efforts to speed up Turkey’s EU membership process, including the modernization of the EU-Turkey customs union and visa freedom.
Hungary is also ready to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártón according to the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership in Hungary is a purely technical issue. Along with Turkey, Hungary is the only NATO country that has not yet ratified.
Hungary has previously announced that it will ratify membership once Turkey comes around to its position.
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