Does Sweden have promised » the extradition of 73 people to Turkey to join NATO? The Swedish Prime Minister refused on Sunday to deny the assertion of Turkish President Erdogan, which causes embarrassment in the Nordic country.
The insistence of journalists and the concern of Kurdish or Turkish refugees in Sweden were not enough to make Magdalena Andersson flinch. During a press conference, the Swedish Prime Minister refused to say whether Stockholm had made a commitment to Ankara to extradite 73 people to lift the Turkish blockage to the candidacy of Sweden and Finland.
” I have been a member of the government for eight years and I have never spoken about what is said at the negotiating table “replied the head of government. ” Which puts me in a bit of a predicament right now. added the Social Democratic leader.
A deal, but no promise
In an agreement signed by Stockholm and Helsinki on Tuesday at the NATO summit in Madrid, the two Nordic countries notably undertake in writing to examine “ promptly and thoroughly » Turkish extradition requests. No promise to actually carry out these extraditions is given, and Finland and Sweden have since recalled that the process depends on authority and independent courts.
But Turkish President Erdogan spoke on Thursday at the end of the NATO summit of a ” promise made by Sweden » regarding the extradition of « 73 terrorists », threatening to reblock Stockholm’s accession to the Atlantic Alliance if the commitments were not kept.
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So far, the Swedish authorities are keeping a low profile. Sweden, they say, will continue to respect national and international law, no Swedish nationals will be extradited. ” If you are not involved in terrorist activities, concludes the head of government, you have nothing to worry about “.