Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Tuesday the new government was committed to overcoming Türkiye's objections to Sweden's historic bid to join NATO.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland tore up their long-standing policies of military non-alignment and asked to join the U.S.-led military alliance.
The move has strong backing from most NATO members. However, Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding at NATO's June summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the PKK, its Syrian offshoot YPG or the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union, and the United States, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG, which also has a presence in Europe and has been openly sanctioned by several governments, is the terrorist PKK's Syrian branch.
"We will be able to fulfill the memorandum and its items. I'm quite sure of that," Billstrom said of an agreement Sweden and Finland signed with Türkiye in June designed to iron out the concerns.
Billstrom told AFP in an interview that Sweden backed the stance Türkiye and the European Union have taken on the PKK.
He said the group was "terrorist through and through," and Sweden respected Türkiye's security concerns.
But the new top diplomat, who took office last week, also stressed, "It's necessary to have a balance of freedom of expression."
PKK-linked groups in Sweden staged several demonstrations during the summer and waved the terror group's flags, which raised hackles in Türkiye.
Under the deal with Türkiye, Sweden and Finland have agreed to address Ankara's requests for "terror suspects" to be deported or extradited.
Billstrom said Stockholm would deliver on promises made but stressed this had to be done in "a legally safe way ... in line with the constitution."
In Sweden, if a suspect opposes his or her extradition, the objection must be examined by the Supreme Court, which can effectively block the government from granting the warrant.
In August, Stockholm authorized the first extradition to Türkiye since the Madrid accord was reached but that case concerned fraud and not terrorism.
In late September, Swedish authorities lifted a ban on military exports to Türkiye, another of Ankara's demands.
Billstrom stressed there was "positive dialogue with Türkiye," noting that he and new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson would be visiting Ankara shortly.
Although Turkish officials have said their main concerns relate more to Sweden than Finland, Billstrom said he did not expect Helsinki to go ahead and join NATO without its neighbor.
"No, we don't see any signs in that direction," he said.
Most recently, delegations from Türkiye and Finland on Tuesday met to discuss the extradition of accused terrorists sought by Türkiye under the NATO membership deal reached this June.
The closed-door meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara with Finnish Justice Ministry officials and a delegation headed by Kasım Çiçek, the Turkish Justice Ministry chief of foreign and European Union relations, lasted six hours.
During the meeting, the Turkish officials reiterated their request to the Finnish delegation to extradite members of two terrorist groups, the separatist PKK and the FETÖ, the latter the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. Evidence of the accused terrorists' guilt was also laid out in documents.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ on Monday said that Finland and Sweden have to keep their promises to extradite terrorists if they want to join NATO.
"The (membership) process was started but not completed. Completion will be with the approval of the (Turkish) parliament. Therefore, the start of the process does not mean that the process is over unless it is approved by parliament. Parliament will have the final say," Bozdağ said.
The Nordic countries have both agreed to address Ankara's pending deportation or extradition requests for terror suspects.
Türkiye's Parliament must ratify the country's approval for Finland and Sweden's membership for them to join NATO.
