Turkey tells NATO that Sweden won’t join by next week’s meeting. NATO foreign ministers will meet next week, and according to two people familiar with the situation, Turkey has notified them that ratifying Sweden’s membership request will not be finished in time to enable the nation’s accession ceremony.
To have more discussions, the foreign affairs panel of the Turkish parliament postponed last week’s vote on Sweden’s application to join NATO.
According to one of the individuals, the panel is expected to discuss the issue on Tuesday or Wednesday. On November 28 and 29, NATO foreign ministers will convene in Brussels. A few in the Western defense bloc had anticipated that this meeting would signal Sweden’s entry into the alliance.
An instant response from the Turkish Foreign Ministry was not received. In May of last year, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both Sweden and Finland submitted requests to join NATO.
At the time, President Tayyip Erdogan expressed opposition to both proposals due to what he claimed were the Nordic countries’ defense trade embargoes and their support of individuals whom Turkey considers terrorists. Turkey has kept Sweden waiting, which supported Finland’s candidacy in April.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is regarded as a terrorist organization by the US and the EU, has local members. Turkey has urged Sweden to take more measures to apprehend them.
Reacting to this, Stockholm introduced an anti-terrorism measure that lifts arms export prohibitions on Turkey and outlaws involvement in terrorist organizations. It claims to have fulfilled half of the agreement made last year.
The Turkish Foreign Affairs Commission must approve the measure before putting it to a vote in front of the entire parliament, which could happen days or weeks later. Erdogan would eventually sign it into law, ending the protracted process that infuriated Ankara’s allies and tested its Western ties.
Turkey is considered the primary obstacle to Sweden’s enlargement, even though NATO member Hungary has not accepted Sweden’s membership.
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