German Chancellor Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday again called on Türkiye to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Scholz, speaking to Germany's Parliament on Thursday morning, said he is "firmly convinced that Sweden should sit at the summit table as a new ally alongside Finland" when NATO leaders meet in Vilnius next month.
He told German lawmakers that he's asking newly reelected President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to drop his objections to Sweden joining the alliance – as NATO countries unanimously agreed at last year's summit in Madrid.
In a historic turnaround, Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military non-alliance and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
But provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary for NATO membership, and continuing terror-affiliated and anti-Türkiye protests risk endangering Sweden’s NATO bid further.
Ankara ratified Finland’s membership in March, enabling it to become a full member of the defense alliance.
Erdoğan has repeatedly accused Sweden of not taking action against terrorist organizations, an apparent reference to the PKK, an outlawed separatist terror formation that killed over 40,000 people in Türkiye since the 1980s, and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which was behind a bloody coup attempt in 2016.
He also said recently that the NATO hopeful shouldn’t expect “much” from the upcoming Vilnius summit.
“We cannot have a positive approach (to Sweden’s NATO accession) under the current circumstances. NATO cannot force us to admit Sweden without acting against terrorism. Unless you resolve this issue, we cannot merrily approve Sweden’s membership in Vilnius,” he said.
Earlier this month, Sweden tightened its terrorism laws and the country’s Supreme Court approved the first extradition to Türkiye of a supporter of the PKK.
While reiterating that it does not oppose NATO expansion, Ankara says Sweden is yet to implement its anti-terrorism law in the field and expects “concrete action.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg too claimed after a meeting with Erdoğan in Ankara earlier in June that the Nordic country had fulfilled its responsibilities, similarly echoed by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström last week who said fighting terrorism was a common goal for Stockholm and Ankara.
Hungary is also opposing Sweden’s membership over separate issues but Türkiye has been increasingly pressured by NATO, the United States and several EU countries to let Sweden in before July.
Washington even tied the ratification of Sweden to a sale of F-16 fighter jets Türkiye has been trying to close for years, with President Biden saying Erdoğan should “get (Swedish membership) done if he “still wants to work on something on the F-16s.”
