According to foreign media reports, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg recently told the outside world that Sweden has made significant progress in joining NATO. Stoltenberg wrote on social media: “After I hosted the meeting between Turkish President Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Kristesson, Erdogan has agreed to submit the protocol of Sweden’s accession to NATO to the Turkish parliament as soon as possible and ensure that the protocol is ratified.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson (right) meet on the eve of the NATO summit.
Subsequently, a joint statement issued by the leaders of NATO, Turkey and Sweden also confirmed the news. The statement said Sweden and Turkey agreed to continue cooperation under the Trilateral Standing Joint Mechanism and a new bilateral security agreement. Sweden will propose a road map for continuing to fight terrorism in all its forms, and will continue bilateral anti-terrorism cooperation with Turkey after joining NATO, while strengthening cooperation in the economic field between the two countries.
It is reported that the day before Erdogan agreed with Sweden to join NATO, US President Biden had a phone call with Erdogan. According to a statement released by the White House, Biden expressed the hope that Sweden would join NATO as soon as possible during the call. In a subsequent interview with the media, Biden stated that he was optimistic about Sweden’s accession to NATO. Some analysts believe that Erdogan’s change in attitude may be to ease tensions with the United States and the European Union, and to avoid being isolated at the upcoming NATO summit. There are also media reports that Turkey’s decision to agree to Sweden’s entry into NATO was in exchange for the United States agreeing to include it in the F-35 fighter program. At the same time, Turkey hopes to purchase new F-16 fighter jets from the United States to accelerate the modernization of its air force fleet. It is said that the White House of the United States has persuaded Congress to agree to arms sales to Turkey, and it is not ruled out that Erdogan will make concessions on Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Although Erdogan’s attitude has changed, analysts said that Sweden still faces many problems in joining the treaty.
On the one hand, Sweden must work hard to push the Turkish parliament to ratify the protocol on Sweden’s accession to NATO as soon as possible. Erdogan promised to submit the protocol to parliament for ratification, but did not give a clear timetable. Stoltenberg seemed unsure about that, saying it would be up to Turkey to decide.
On the other hand, Sweden must try its best to meet Erdogan’s preconditions, which is to allow Turkey to join the European Union. Before declaring that he would submit the protocol to the Turkish parliament for approval, Erdogan had said that Sweden could join NATO only after Turkey was accepted by the European Union. In addition, according to the regulations, NATO can only admit new members on the premise of “unanimous consent” of member states. Even if the Turkish parliament finally approves Sweden’s accession protocol, Sweden will still need the yes vote of another NATO member, Hungary.
Source : Baidu
