The meeting between the heads of state is considered a sign that Turkey could soon give Sweden the green light.
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson and the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are meeting today in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the Secretary General of the military alliance NATO Jens Stoltenberg under. The goal of the meeting to be held under the NATO summit starting on Tuesday in Vilnius is to untie the knot related to Sweden’s NATO membership.
The meeting was agreed on Thursday, when the tripartite group of Finland, Sweden and Turkey met in Brussels at the foreign minister level. The announcement of the meeting between Kristersson and Erdoğan was considered positive news for Sweden’s NATO prospects.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not ratified Sweden’s membership in the military alliance.
Stoltenberg said on Thursday that it is still possible to get a positive decision for Sweden at the Vilnius summit. In practice, this would mean that Turkey would make it clear that it is ready for ratification. The schedule is no longer sufficient for ratifications in the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments before Tuesday, so Sweden will participate in the NATO summit as an observer member anyway.
Kristersson’s according to the summit would be a natural environment for a decision or at least some kind of announcement about NATO membership. He said on Thursday that the announcement would be a good thing for Sweden and completely possible.
Last Wednesday, Kristersson went to Washington to meet the President of the United States Joe Biden. The meeting was an indication of the strong US support for Sweden’s membership. Finland has also worked to promote Sweden’s membership.
Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO applications at the same time in May of last year. Turkey ended its deadlock regarding Finland’s ratification earlier, and Finland became a full member of NATO at the beginning of April.
It is important for NATO to present itself as a united alliance at the Vilnius summit, so the question of Sweden’s membership remaining open after the meeting would be considered a failure.
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