Senator Ben Cardin takes over the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after the bribery accused Bob Menendez, who previously blocked the sale of US F-16 planes to Turkey.
Cardin says the day after assuming the chairmanshipb that the potential F-16 deal is affected by a wide range of factors and not “only” Sweden’s application for membership in the defense alliance.
— I will have to discuss with the administration regarding several of these issues because this goes beyond a single issue, Cardin told a press conference on Thursday, writes Reuters.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised that he will send over the Swedish NATO application for ratification as soon as possible when the Turkish parliament opens on Sunday.
Cardin, who like his representative Menendez is a democrat, attended a NATO meeting earlier this week together with representatives of Turkey and then got the same picture of the situation with Sweden’s application.
— They claim it will happen in the first half of next month, said Cardin.