(Bloomberg) — Sweden’s incoming government plans to honor the agreement with Turkey that paved way for the Nordic country to start the process to join NATO.
The agreement was hammered out in June to address Turkish concerns that Sweden and Finland, which is also applying, are not taking adequate action to crack down on Kurdish groups that Ankara views as terrorists. Turkey and Hungary are the only ones among the 30-member defense alliance who have yet to ratify the Nordic nations’ accession into the bloc.
“We are now delivering on the agreement — that goes for Sweden as well as Finland,” said Ulf Kristersson, who is set to be sworn in as prime minister next week.
Finland and Sweden asked to enter the bloc in May, seeking a deterrent against Russian aggression after its attack on Ukraine in February. A deal struck in Madrid in June allowed the application process to move forward despite initial opposition from Turkey, which remains the only country to voice concerns.
As part of that memorandum of understanding, the three countries set up a joint mechanism for dialog and have held meetings since the summer. Sweden has also approved military exports to Turkey, another condition set by the Middle Eastern country.
“There are a lot of contacts between the three countries,” Kristersson said at a news conference on Friday. “I think this will go well.”
Kristersson declined to give a time frame for the process and pushed back against any suggestions the Swedish and Finnish applications would be ratified at a different pace.
“Finland and Sweden are keen to do this jointly and I think the other NATO countries want us to do this jointly,” he said. “I think we’ll also be able to convince Turkey that Sweden and Finland should join together.”
