Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted on Monday that Ankara could approve Sweden’s membership in NATO if European countries “pave the way” for Turkey to join the European Union.
“Turkey has been waiting at the door of the European Union for more than 50 years and almost all NATO member countries are now members of the European Union. I make this appeal to those countries that have left Turkey waiting at the door of the Union. European Union for more than 50 years,” Erdogan said.
“Pave the way for Türkiye to join the European Union. When I pave the way for Turkey, we will pave the way for Sweden, just as we did for Finland,” she added.
The specialist in international relations, Marcos Farias Ferreira, does not believe that the European Union will respond to Turkey’s demand.
“On the European Union side you can’t even talk much, right? There are different institutional plans, it’s extremely dangerous for the European Union. Turkey in the European Union, especially since Turkey is already a candidate state for that.” and therefore there is a process that the Turkish president probably wants to facilitate in the case of Turkey. You can’t talk much about the European side, because entering into this negotiation is precisely to wear down the European Union. And, therefore, surely this is going to be raised behind the scenes,” he defended. TSF Marcos Farías Ferreira.
The professor at the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences maintains that Turkey is trying to take advantage of an apparent relaxation of criteria to enter institutions such as the European Union and NATO.
Turkey is an EU candidate country, but this candidacy has been blocked due to what Brussels considers Ankara’s democratic backsliding and disputes with Cyprus, a member of the European bloc.
This Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Stockholm was optimistic about the possibility that Turkey will abandon the objections to the accession of Sweden to NATO, considering the accession a matter of time.
Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will meet in Vilnius ahead of the NATO summit which begins on Tuesday.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told public broadcaster SVT that he hopes Turkey will finally send a signal about Sweden joining NATO.
Turkey has blocked Sweden from joining NATO, saying the country needs to “do more” to crack down on Kurdish militants and other groups Ankara considers threats to Turkey’s national security.
The recent anti-Turkey and anti-Islam protests in Stockholm raised doubts about the possibility of reaching an agreement before the NATO summit.
Billström also said he hoped Hungary, which has also not ratified Sweden’s NATO membership, completes Stockholm’s entry before an eventual decision by Ankara.
Sweden and Finland applied to become NATO members last year, after Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine.
Finland joined the Atlantic Alliance last April.
Source: TSF
