The tripartite negotiations between Turkey, Sweden and Finland did not lead to a breakthrough at the meeting held in Brussels. Hopes for a breakthrough before the Vilnius Summit are fading.
Rikhard HusuEU correspondent
BRUSSELS Sweden’s NATO membership is within reach. This was the general secretary Jens Stoltenberg message after the negotiations between Turkey, Sweden and Finland in Brussels.
Talks between Turkey and Sweden will continue on Monday, when the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson meet the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan On the eve of the Vilnius Summit.
– It is definitely possible that a positive decision will be made at next week’s summit, Stoltenberg said, referring to Sweden’s membership.
The Secretary General’s assessments can be taken as a sign that Sweden’s NATO approach is moving in the right direction. The multi-generational process has been overshadowed by concerns related to terrorism in Turkey as well as the burning of Korans in Sweden.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström estimatesthat the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership can proceed quickly if Turkey gives Sweden the green light in Vilnius.
As a point of comparison, you can use the ratification of Finland’s application, which was completed days after President Erdoğan had expressed his support for accepting Finland as a full member of NATO.
– The most important thing is that we get the message that the ratification will start. Whether this happens before the summit or during the summit is not as important, Billström said.
According to Billström, Sweden has fulfilled the conditions of the memorandum of understanding between Turkey, Sweden and Finland. Secretary General Stoltenberg’s task is to try to get Turkey on the same lines.
– It is always possible to share more information, deepen cooperation or grant more export permits. But I won’t go into details about what Sweden can do by the time of the summit, Stoltenberg said.
Postponing a possible solution to Vilnius President Erdoğan will ensure that Turkey is in the spotlight as NATO leaders gather.
The situation is reminiscent of the Madrid summit a year ago, from which many remembered the negotiations between Turkey, Finland and Sweden and the document of understanding that resulted from them.
At the same time, the worsening situation in Sweden diverts attention from other important issues of the summit: new defense plans, increasing defense appropriations and strengthening Ukraine’s NATO path.
That is why the majority of member countries hope that the situation in Sweden will be resolved as soon as possible.
The Swedish NATO process is also part of a wider foreign policy framework, in which Turkish-US relations in particular play a central role.
Turkey hopes, among other things, that the fighter jet sales will progress with the United States. So far, the United States has not agreed to sell Turkey the forty F-16 fighter jets it wants.
During the summit, it is therefore worth following closely what the United States has to bring to the NATO table in Vilnius.