Turkey agreed to ask its parliament to advance Sweden’s bid for NATO membership, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Monday. The breakthrough came after Turkey received assurances on key demands, including Stockholm’s approach to supporters of Kurdish separatists operating in its territory, according to a Turkish official.
A Turkish official said there was also progress toward meeting their demands to lift defense-related sanctions and that EU officials agreed to speed up their membership negotiations, including on joining the customs union and allowing visa-free travel for its citizens.
“Completing Sweden’s accession to NATO is a historic step that benefits the security of all NATO allies at this critical time,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The breakthrough, which followed months of arduous negotiations, came hours ahead of a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where alliance members had originally hoped to be able to welcome Sweden as a new member.
Instead, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that he would ask the country’s parliament to move ahead with ratifying Sweden’s bid soon, without offering a specific timeframe, the official said.
Earlier Monday, Erdogan for the first time linked Sweden’s NATO membership bid to Ankara’s efforts to join the EU, which appeared to throw a wrench into the process.
Erdogan interrupted his talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to meet with European Council President Charles Michel, who following the meeting, said the bloc would submit a report on the EU’s relations with Turkey, ”with a view to proceed in strategic & forward-looking manner.”
The decision follows more than a year of stalling and contentious rhetoric, with Ankara repeatedly accusing Stockholm of failing to do enough to crack down on Kurdish groups it views as terrorists.
Turkey’s turnaround follows a flurry of diplomatic activity that has seen Kristersson visit US President Joe Biden in Washington, and Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billstrom meet his Turkish counterpart at NATO headquarters in Brussels.Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billstrom also met his Turkish counterpart at NATO headquarters in Brussels late last week.
It’s unclear to what extent Biden’s comments over the weekend that Turkey’s purchase of American F-16 fighter jets is “in play” contributed to Erdogan’s U-turn on Sweden, despite rebuffs by Ankara to link the two issues. Erdogan is set to meet Biden on Tuesday in Vilnius.
A bipartisan group of senators told Biden earlier this year that the Congress shouldn’t consider F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey until the country ratifies Sweden’s membership. Erdogan and Biden have agreed to hold talks at the summit.
--With assistance from Andra Timu, Niclas Rolander and Kati Pohjanpalo.
Author: Firat Kozok, Selcan Hacaoglu and Natalia Drozdiak