Sweden will join NATO. After months of waiting, a few hours before the start of the Vilnius summit scheduled for today, Turkish President Recep Erdogan finally said yes during a trilateral agreement between the two countries led by NATO secretary Jens Stoltenberg.
Erdogan says yes to Sweden joining NATO
“I am happy to announce that President Erdogan has agreed to allow Sweden to join NATO as soon as possible”, announced NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the end of the trilateral meeting with the leaders of Sweden and Turkey. For months, after having given the go-ahead for Finland's entry into the Atlantic Alliance, Erdogan blocked Stockholm's accession, asking and finally obtaining greater harshness from the Swedish government towards the Kurdish organizations hosted in the country, but also the yes of Sweden upon Turkey's entry into the European Union.
“We have been able to reconcile the concerns of Turkey and Sweden, now we have in the agreed text steps forward on how implement the fight against terrorism, work together as allies and have arms export restrictions from Stockholm to Ankara lifted,” Stoltenberg said.
"Today is a historic day. We have a clear commitment from Ankara to present the Swedish ratification in Parliament as soon as possible and to work towards ratification as soon as possible. But it is not my job to give timescales on how long it will take, we have to respect the timescales of the Turkish Parliament,” he added. Budapest now remains the other country to give the green light. "I believe that the problem of Hungary will be solvedStoltenberg added.
The reactions of the leaders: Biden, von der Leyen, Kristersson
The US president, Joe Biden, expressed his appreciation for the agreement between Sweden and Turkey. “I welcome the statement released this evening by Turkey, Sweden and the Secretary General of NATO, on President Erdogan's commitment to give the green light to Stockholm membership,” Biden wrote in a note, adding: “I am ready to collaborate with the Turkish president and his country to strengthen defense in the Euro-Atlantic area. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO ally." The American president thanked Stoltenberg "for his firm leadership".
The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks of “a historic stage in Vilnius. I welcome the important step that Turkey has promised to take, to ratify Sweden's accession to NATO”.
Swedish premier Ulf Kristersson he said he was “pleased that we have taken a big step forward towards the ratification of Sweden into NATO. For our part, we undertake to respect the memorandum signed in Madrid and we will undertake a new bilateral security collaboration to continue the fight against organized crime and terrorism", he added, specifying that the bilateral collaboration will continue "at high levels" between the ministers of the two Villages.
“For 50 years we have waited at the door of the European Union, while all the countries that were already members of NATO have joined it. I appeal to those countries that have kept us out of Europe: lead the way for Turkey and when you do, we too will lead the way for Sweden as we did for Finland,” he said. Recep Erdogan.
NATO summit in Vilnius
The summit scheduled for today at Vilnius therefore begins under the best auspices. In Lithuania, the leaders of NATO countries will meet, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in order to reaffirm their support for Ukraine and show compactness against Russia. However, Kiev's accession to the Alliance remains in doubt. “There is no final decision but I trust the Allies to send a clear message to Ukraine and that there is an agreement,” Stoltenberg said. Meanwhile, second Republic, the United States and China have agreed to put Ukraine's entry into NATO on hold, in exchange for a guarantee that Russia does not use atomic weapons.
