Sweden's NATO accession: Turkey already talks about security concerns
Swedish authorities’ failure to prevent Quran-burning protests in their country is raising security concerns and questions about Sweden’s credentials for possible NATO membership, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said on Tuesday.
Hakan Fidan added, though, that Turkey would still approve Sweden’s membership in the transatlantic defence alliance if Stockholm “completes its homework” and presses ahead with efforts to address Turkey’s concerns.
The fact that the Swedish security system is incapable of preventing provocations and is presenting an image of a (country) that brings problems to NATO — instead of more power — is making us think in terms of the strategic and security aspects,
AP cited Fidan as saying at a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart.
When it comes to Sweden’s membership in NATO, whether it will become a burden or a benefit has become more open to debate,
he said.
Sweden and Finland abandoned their decades-long neutrality and applied to join NATO last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO requires the unanimous approval of all existing members to expand. Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have not yet ratified Sweden’s bid.
Turkey has been holding off the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership, accusing the Scandinavian country of being too soft toward groups that Ankara regards as threats to its security, including Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blames for a failed coup in 2016.
Hungary will not ratify Sweden's membership before autumn
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said earlier (in late May) that political relations between Hungary and Sweden must improve before the Nordic state’s bid for NATO membership is approved.
The political relations between Hungary and Sweden are awfully wrong. We don’t want to import conflicts into NATO,
he said.
Hungary's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjártó announced on Tuesday that he is in contact with his Turkish counterpart on the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership, assuring that if Turkey changes its position on the issue, Hungary will not obstruct the process.
Hungary has been putting off the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership since last summer, persistently lulling Stockholm and the alliance with promises of putting the issue on Parliament's agenda. MPs will take their summer leave after meeting for the last time this summer on Friday, but the agenda for the week does not include a vote on Sweden's accession to NATO.
The document shows, however, that opposition parties - the Democratic Coalition, Momentum Movement, and the Hungarian Socialist Party (MPSZ) - requested adding a final vote on Sweden's NATO membership to the agenda, but the Speaker of the House, László Kövér (Fidesz), has rejected their amendment proposal.
The proposer of the rejected proposal has requested the annulment of the Speaker's decision, but Parliament upheld the decision and disregarded the request to amend the agenda.
