Sweden’s path into NATO has been a protracted process. Already this summer, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gave Sweden the green light but flagged that the ratification process itself would only take place in October.
However, Turkey’s process has continued to drag on and no ratification has yet taken place, something that former Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S) reacts to.
– The Minister of Foreign Affairs has expressed himself with great certainty regarding these issues, but nothing has happened, he says.
“Weakened credibility”
He believes that the government has on several occasions been sure that Sweden’s application will be approved, but that it has been postponed time and time again.
– They have created a weakened credibility for themselves, through this type of commitment, he says.
Party colleague Morgan Johansson (S), former Minister of Justice, also believes that the government could have acted differently to make the process easier.
– To begin with, they should have had more ice in their stomach from the beginning and not run their legs off after Turkey as they did initially.
Billström: Within weeks
Before the meeting between the foreign ministers of the NATO countries in Brussels, the hope from both NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and the Swedish government was that Sweden’s membership would be approved.
– We have started from what Stoltenberg has said, but he has also expressed disappointment. During the meeting, we have strong support from many NATO countries, that we should be able to become members as quickly as possible, says Tobias Billström (M), Minister of Foreign Affairs.
According to Billström, Turkey will complete Sweden’s NATO process “within a couple of weeks”. He announced this after a separate meeting with his Turkish colleague Hakan Fidan on Tuesday afternoon.