Turkey will ratify “as soon as possible” the protocol for Sweden’s entry into NATO, as announced yesterday by its Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, after a round of dramatic negotiations with the leaders of the two countries in Vilnius , when a few hours were left before the start of a crucial summit for the future of the Atlantic Alliance.
Stoltenberg did not go so far as to venture when the long-awaited procedure will take place (Turkey is, along with Hungary, the only country that needs to give the green light to the expansion of NATO), but he pointed out the agreement signed between the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, as a guarantee that, this time yes, the obstacles to the entry of the Nordic country will be lifted very soon.
Since a year ago, at the summit in Madrid, the Alliance formally invited Sweden – and Finland, which formalized its entry in April – to join the military organization, the Nordic country has reformed its Constitution and strengthened anti-terrorist legislation to strengthen its cooperation with Turkey, recalls the statement. Yesterday, after Erdogan pretended that any progress on Sweden’s path to NATO was conditional on a boost in Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, the Turkish leader unleashed new commitments in Stockholm such as the creation of ‘a new bilateral anti-terrorist cooperation mechanism as well as the creation of a new economic and commercial council to promote bilateral exchanges, in addition to the commitment that there will be no restrictions “between allies” in the sale of military equipment.
“This is a historic day, we have a clear commitment from Turkey to send the ratification documents to the Grand National Assembly and to work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification”, celebrated the Secretary General, and clarified thus the dire prognoses with which the NATO summit began today in the Lithuanian capital. Ankara’s sudden interest in reviving its EU accession negotiations is not part of the ongoing negotiations in the Alliance, Stoltenberg said.
Although everything indicated that it could be a maneuver by Erdogan to buy time and advance other matters of national interest, the unexpected coup of trying to tie both processes deeply irritated the allied leaders. “Turkey has waited at the door of the EU for more than fifty years. Almost all NATO members are members of the EU. I appeal to all those countries that have left Turkey waiting at the door of the EU: come and pave the way for Turkey’s accession to the EU. When you open the way for Turkey, we will open the way for Sweden, as we did for Finland,” Erdogan said before traveling to Vilnius.
“It is important that we remain united in the fight against terrorism”, as Turkey asks Sweden, but “it is also important that we address the legitimate security concerns of all allies who want to see Sweden as a member of the Alliance as soon as possible as possible” because the country “has fulfilled” what it promised, replied Stoltenberg, after learning of the new Turkish demands, in a clear change of tone with respect to his previous statements. Finland became the 31st member of the Alliance this spring, gaining 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia. With Swedish accession, the entire Baltic Sea border would be Allied territory.
Sweden’s entry into NATO and Turkey’s negotiations with the EU “are unrelated issues” and “I don’t think they should be seen that way,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said before traveling to Vilnius . Sweden “meets all the requirements” and the Turkish green light to its entry should have taken place “preferably yesterday, not today”. The Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nauseda, host of the summit, called Erdogan to order. “It is important that the list of [Turkish] demands is finite and that, once the requests have been fulfilled, there are no new ones.”
The Turkish delegation to NATO did not issue any statement last night about the meeting or the president’s plans. The delaying tactics that Erdogan has used in the last year call for prudence when calculating when he will take the step of proposing the ratification of the Swedish accession protocol. Stoltenberg insisted there is a “clear commitment” from the Turkish president, who arrives in Vilnius with a broader agenda that includes negotiations with the US over the purchase of F-16 fighter jets. It remains to be seen whether, finally, this matter and the Swedish dossier are linked or not.
