The process to ratify Sweden and Finland as the newest members of NATO was formally launched on Tuesday, the military alliance’s head Jens Stoltenberg said, marking a historic step brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“This is a good day for Finland and Sweden and a good day for NATO,” Stoltenberg told reporters in a joint press statement with the Swedish and Finnish foreign ministers.
“With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger and our people will be even safer as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” he added.
The NATO secretary general was speaking ahead of a meeting in which the ambassadors from NATO’s 30 member states were expected to sign the accession protocols for the two Nordic countries, opening a months-long period for alliance countries to ratify their membership.
“We are tremendously grateful for all the strong support that our accession has received from the allies,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde.
“We are convinced that our membership would strengthen NATO and add to the stability in the Euro Atlantic area,” she added.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Sweden and Finland in parallel announced their intention to drop their military non-alignment status and become part of NATO.
A NATO summit in Madrid last week endorsed that move by issuing invitations to the two, after Turkey won concessions over concerns it had raised and a US promise it would receive new warplanes.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accused Sweden and Finland of being havens for Kurdish militants he has sought to crush, and for promoting “terrorism”.
He also demanded they lift arms embargoes imposed for Turkey’s 2019 military incursion into Syria.
But Erdogan has kept the rest of NATO on tenterhooks by saying he could still block Sweden and Finland’s bids if they fail to follow through on their promises, some of which were undisclosed, such as possible extradition agreements.
Sweden refuses to deny deportations to Turkey part of NATO deal
Visby, Sweden (AFP) July 3, 2022 –
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson refused Sunday to deny Turkey’s claim that it had promised to deport individuals sought by Ankara as part of Stockholm’s efforts to join NATO.
Despite questioning by journalists and concerns among Kurdish and Turkish refugees in Sweden, Andersson would not say whether such a commitment had been given to Ankara for it to lift objections to Sweden’s membership.
“I’ve been a minister for eight years and I never talked about what is said in the negotiation room,” she said.
“(That) actually puts me in a bit of a difficult situation right now,” she added.
In an agreement signed by Stockholm and Helsinki at a NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday, the two Nordic countries agreed to examine Turkish extradition requests “expeditiously and thoroughly”.
No promise has been given to actually carry out the extraditions, and Finland and Sweden have since recalled that the process is in the hands of the authorities and independent courts.
But Turkish President Erdogan on Thursday said at the end of the NATO summit that Sweden had made a “promise” to extradite “73 terrorists” and threatened to block NATO membership if the commitments were not met.
Andersson, who was pressed several times on Sunday to say whether such a promise had been given, simply repeated Stockholm’s position.
She said Sweden will continue to respect national and international laws, no Swedish nationals will be extradited, the decision will be up to independent authorities and courts.
“If you are not involved in terrorist activities, there is no need for concern,” she said.
The Swedish leader was holding her first press conference since returning from the summit, during a visit to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland.
Every July, it hosts a week of political meetings bringing together party leaders.
But it is also one of the locations due to be reinforced by the Swedish army after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s decision to join NATO.
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Relief and concern in Sweden after NATO deal with Turkey
Stockholm (AFP) June 29, 2022
Sweden may have clinched a surprise deal with Turkey paving the way for its NATO membership, but Kurds and leftwing parties expressed concern Wednesday about the concessions made to Ankara.
“We did not cave in to (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan”, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said from the NATO summit in Madrid where the deal was announced.
“We will not agree to any extraditions unless there is proof of terrorist activity,” she told Swedish daily Aftonbladet.
“There’s no reason … read more
