Swedish PM ‘Very Happy’ After Turkey Gives Green Light For NATO Bid

VILNIUS: Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday stated that he was "very happy" that an agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been reached by Sweden to support its application to join NATO. Turkey has agreed to drop its veto on Sweden becoming an alliance partner.

"We take a very big step towards the formal ratification of Sweden's membership in NATO. It has been a good day for Sweden," Kristersson told the media ahead of a key alliance summit in Vilnius.

Turkish PM Erdogan agreed on Monday to forward to his parliament for approval Sweden's application to join NATO, the alliance's head Jens Stoltenberg said.

A separate joint statement by both countries was issued, which outlined the agreement between Sweden and Turkey.

Sweden's membership bid to NATO was being blocked by Turkey, accusing Stockholm of harbouring Kurdish activists which Ankara describes as terrorists.

"President Erdogan commits to proceed with the ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO as soon as possible," Kristersson said.

The Swedish PM further added that the two countries would continue in their joint efforts to combat organised crime and terrorism, while agreeing to "deepen cooperation on the economy, trade, investments".

Erdogan also demanded on Monday that the European Union should revive Turkey's held up EU membership bid as a precondition for Sweden’s joining NATO.

"From the Swedish side we continue to advocate closer cooperation between the Union and Turkey," Kristersson said.

However, Kristersson refused Sweden’s commitment to anything that was outside the statement.

Meanwhile, “Israel-style” security guarantees would be offered to Ukraine by its most powerful Western military allies, according to a Telegraph report. A long-term plan to arm Kyiv in order to defend itself from Russian aggression will be committed by UK, US, France and Germany, the report claimed as talks over the assurances were forging on, ahead of NATO's annual summit in Lithuania.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the summit, where he is reportedly hoping for a meeting with US president Joe Biden. This step comes on the heels of Turkey finally dropping its veto to NATO membership for Sweden, which the alliance's secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg called a “historic step.”

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