Erdogan will support Sweden’s entry into NATO if the EU reopens talks with Turkey | BIA

2023-07-10 13:50:32

DIPLOMACY-Türkiye-NATO-EU-DEFENSE

Erdogan will support Sweden’s entry into NATO if the EU reopens talks with Turkey

ISTANBUL, Jul 10, 2023 – Ankara will support Sweden’s NATO membership if the European Union reopens Turkey’s EU membership talks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

“First pave the way for Turkey to join the European Union and then we will pave the way for Sweden, just as we paved the way for Finland,” Erdogan told the eve of the opening of the annual NATO summit in Vilnius.

Negotiations between Turkey and the EU have been stalled for several years.

The European Commission had estimated at the end of 2020 that they were “at a standstill” because of the decisions contrary to the interests of the EU taken by its leaders, in particular in terms of human rights.

Turkey, still an official candidate, applied for membership in the European Economic Community in 1987 and in the European Union in 1999, but EU membership negotiations, which began in 2005, were plagued by a series of thorny problems and the lack of enthusiasm of key EU countries.

“Almost all NATO members are EU members. I address these countries which have made Turkey wait for more than 50 years and I will address them in Vilnius,” the Turkish president said on Monday before flying to Vilnius.

“Our nation has expectations (…) We are Turkey, we are not an ordinary country,” he insisted.

Erdogan had already raised the subject on Sunday during a telephone interview with US President Joe Biden, with whom he is due to meet one-on-one in Vilnius.

The Turkish president also repeated that the Turkish green light for Sweden’s entry into NATO depends “on the achievement of the points included in the tripartite agreement” signed at the Alliance summit in Madrid last year. by Turkey, Sweden and Finland.

Erdogan, who is to meet on Monday with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, continues to criticize Sweden for its alleged leniency towards Kurdish militants who have taken refuge on its soil.

Turkey is the last NATO country with Hungary to oppose the entry of Sweden, despite the measures taken by the Scandinavian country, including a reform of its Constitution and the adoption of a new law counterterrorism.

With AFP