Sweden takes steps for NATO approval from Türkiye

As Finland completed its move into NATO, Sweden’s inquiry to access the Alliance came under the spotlight. Hungary and Türkiye’s objections have been keeping Stockholm on a halt for some time. The rest of the NATO members want to see the finalization of the action before the summit in Vilnius, but it all depends on the Nordic Nation’s steps.

14/06/2023 11:00 Güncelleme: 05/05/2024 18:37

Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden will gather in Ankara to commence the fourth meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism.

President Erdoğan’s chief advisor Akif Çağatay Kılıç will oversee Wednesday’s meeting.

Director of the Private Office of the NATO secretary general Stian Jenssen, State Secretary of the Swedish Foreign Ministry Jan Knutsson, and Permanent State Secretary for the Finnish Foreign Ministry Jukka Salovaara will attend the function.

The three countries inaugurated the Permanent Joint Mechanism to control the application of the Trilateral Memorandum.

Sweden champions that they fulfill all the criteria proposed. Foreign Minister Tobias Billström recently compared Stockholm’s application process to a marathon, stating that it is coming to an end.

“Finland has finalized accession, and I am sure Sweden will too. We are working to ensure that happens as early as possible,” he said.

Ankara, however, is not thoroughly on board with Sweden’s premise. The new Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke with Billström following his statements.

Fidan told his counterpart that Türkiye wanted to see more concrete steps in the fight against terror. The two Foreign Ministers agreed to get in touch again after Wednesday’s gathering.

SWEDEN’S FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

Stockholm needs to ramp up its fight against terrorism and be in coordinated efforts with its allies, most notably Türkiye, according to the Trilateral Memorandum.

Sweden’s top representative body in Ankara released a statement clarifying that it has not and does not trade with or provide any means of support to terrorist organizations.

The Nordic Country has also passed new legislation regulating the war on terror. Swedish Foreign Minister conveyed that the new legislation will improve cooperation with Ankara and other allies.

The legislation, passed by the Riksdag last November, has entered into force as of June 1st. It allows the authorities to prosecute individuals who support terrorist entities.

The bill also criminalizes financing, recruiting for, or publicly encouraging a terrorist organization and traveling abroad to join such a group.

In recent news, Stockholm approved the extradition of a wanted man. A senior official from the Swedish Ministry of Justice, Ashraf Ahmed, said, “The government on June 12th, 2023, decided to grant the extradition request regarding a 35-year-old Turkish citizen who has been sentenced to four years and seven months in prison for drug crimes in Türkiye.”

The man, who was not named, had been convicted of smuggling around 1.8 kilos of cannabis into Adana in 2013.

He served two years of prison time and then was let out. Following, he moved to Sweden, where he had been “supporting PKK” (Kurdish Worker’s Party, terrorist group) in his own words.

The convict violated other Turkish laws in Sweden, namely Insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which is a criminal offense codified in the Turkish Penal Law.

SWEDEN’S ACCESSION

Leaders and academics around the globe believe that Stockholm can access the transatlantic Alliance before the summit in Vilnius next month.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, is one of those leaders. In his meeting with President Erdoğan in early June, he said, “I think the time for this is long overdue. As you know, all the allies made critical decisions in Madrid.”

“Türkiye joined these decisions and invited Sweden and Finland to join. Since that decision, as you know, Finland has become a member of this alliance," Stoltenberg added.

He expressed that lifted weaponry embargoes and changes to the Swedish Constitution brought Stockholm closer to Ankara and NATO.

Dr. Paul Levin from Stockholm University spoke similarly to duvaR’s Ahmet Tirej Kaya, saying that the direction of Turkish foreign policy indicates a positive outcome in Sweden’s application process.

The rest of the NATO allies, excluding Hungary for now, hold a similar opinion. Most have supported Stockholm’s bid from the beginning, finalizing their support by permitting Sweden in.

Sweden’s accession will alter the regional and global balance as well. Tobias Billström holds the view that the Nordic countries’ entries into the Alliance will bolster regional security.

In an interview with High North News, Billström elaborated, “Through many years, we have seen an increased militarization of the Arctic region – something Sweden, among others, observes with unease. This unease has become stronger in the wake of Russia's warfare in Ukraine. We believe that Swedish and Finnish NATO memberships will weigh up for this development and be a substantial contribution to creating more security and safety in this part of the world.”

Sweden’s entry into NATO, following the admission of the Finns, will help ease the security concerns of the Europeans. It might also boost the sense of unity between European nations.

Naturally, new entrees to the Alliance will have an increased sense of security while contributing to collective safety.

The Russians have indicated multiple times that they did not approve of the Nordic expansion of NATO.

Türkiye will likely ask to see further developments in Sweden’s crackdown on terrorists, rightfully so.

Stockholm recently demonstrated that it would eagerly follow that direction to secure its being, as its NATO bid came in succession to Moscow’s aggression on Ukraine.

Securing its populace, lands, and independence is the most vital thing for Sweden right now.

Swede leaders are aware of the fact that the shielding can only come from NATO, and the way in requires satisfying Ankara’s concerns.

Finland is under more pressure as they border Russia, which resulted in Helsinki’s quicker adoption of Türkiye’s conditions.

Even if Sweden misses the Vilnius timestamp and the process takes more time than anticipated, their entry will be swift once Ankara regards Stockholm as having fulfilled the conditions it put its signature under.

Mansur Ali Bilgiç - 14/06/2023

Türkiye NATO