Sweden still hopes to become a NATO member in time for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. This was announced on Friday by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilstrom.
“There won’t be a plan B or anything like that. Plan B is plan A – it’s full NATO membership, and that’s what the government and I are going for. work all the way to Vilnius,” Bilstrom told reporters.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their longstanding policy of non-alignment with military blocs and seek NATO membership to strengthen their defenses. Finland joined NATO in April this year, but Sweden’s membership was delayed by objections from Turkey and Hungary, although Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in same time.
Turkey will vote in the second round of the presidential elections this Sunday and Tobias Bielström expressed hope that the Turkish parliament will start the process of ratifying Sweden’s application for NATO membership as soon as the political situation in the country improves. determined.
“It’s time for Turkey to start the ratification process and fulfill its part of the deal,” said Tobias Bielstrom.
Sweden, Finland and Turkey reached a tripartite agreement in Madrid in June 2022 aimed at addressing Turkish security concerns. But Ankara is slow to ratify Sweden’s candidacy, saying Stockholm is granting political asylum to activists Turkey considers terrorists.
Hungary is also delaying a vote on Sweden’s candidacy, citing Swedish criticism of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s work on democracy and the rule of law.
Tobias Bilstrom pointed out that Budapest’s specific objections to Sweden joining NATO are unclear. “At the Madrid summit last year, Hungary supported granting Sweden guest country status without any conditions,” he said. “Our firm opinion is that they should start ratifying.”
On March 22, the Swedish parliament officially approved a bill allowing the country to join NATO once its candidacy has been ratified by the 30 members of the alliance.
On April 4, US President Joe Biden welcomed Finland’s formal entry into NATO and called on Turkey and Hungary to complete the process of ratifying Sweden’s candidacy to join NATO without delay. ‘alliance.
Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022. They had hoped for a quick accession process and were surprised by Turkish and Hungarian objections. To date, of the 30 NATO member countries, only Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify Sweden’s candidacy, and before that, Finland’s membership has also been delayed. The admission of new members to NATO requires the approval of the 30 countries that make up the alliance.
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