Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson lamented on Monday that its accession to NATO is marked by «many unknowns» despite the fact that the country is fulfilling the commitments made with Turkey to clear its entry into the military organization.
At a press conference with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the Scandinavian leader acknowledged that Sweden’s entry into NATO is marked by «many unknowns», but defended that «sooner or later» the country will be a member of NATO.
Kristersson has avoided making bets on when the ratification of its NATO membership by Ankara will come, in a context marked by the Turkish presidential elections in June. «We expect it as soon as possible, that’s the only possible answer. Everyone respects the ratification of the other allies and we all realize that the decision is Turkey’s alone,» the Swedish Prime Minister said.
«There have been many unknowns so far, but I am convinced that sooner or later we will be members. I am confident as long as Sweden and Finland are doing exactly what we promised to do and committed ourselves to in the memorandum,» he added, stressing Stockholm and Helsinki’s progress in counter-terrorism coordination with Turkey, as agreed on the eve of the NATO summit in Madrid last June.
For its part, the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to ask Sweden and Finland to satisfy as soon as possible its demands on extraditing people linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in order to lift its veto.
Ankara insists there may be a parliamentary recess of a month and a half before the elections, thus leaving a three-month deadline in early 2023 to ratify the Swedish and Finnish NATO accession protocol.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
