2023-11-27 18:55:00
Sweden’s admission to NATO Stoltenberg sends clear words to Turkey
November 27, 2023, 7:55 p.m. Listen to article
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Actually, the path for Sweden to join NATO should have been clear long ago. But after Turkish President Erdogan’s commitment, approval for ratification is stuck in parliament there. Hungary is also delaying its decision. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg no longer wants to accept this.
In the conflict over Sweden’s accession to NATO, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has increased the pressure on Turkey. “Sweden has fulfilled its promises, now it is time for Turkey to complete the accession process,” said Stoltenberg in Brussels. The dispute is weighing on the two-day NATO foreign ministers’ meeting starting on Tuesday, which will focus on preparations for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit and the military situation in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg called on its allies Turkey and Hungary to ratify the Swedish accession protocol “as quickly as possible”. In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, traditionally non-aligned Sweden applied for NATO membership together with Finland in May last year. But while Finland was able to join NATO as the 31st country in April, Sweden’s admission continues to be delayed, mainly due to reservations in Turkey.
According to Brussels, the disappointment in NATO is extremely great. This year, the planned admission ceremony for Sweden is now finally off the table. It is unclear whether it can be made up for by the anniversary summit in Washington in July. Stoltenberg said he expected that there would be a very clear message on the issue to Turkish Minister Hakan Fidan at the foreign ministers’ meeting. This means that Turkey must complete the ratification process quickly. The background to Stoltenberg’s clear words is that the foreign ministers’ meeting was actually supposed to celebrate Sweden’s admission.
Türkiye frustrates NATO
Diplomats say there is great frustration with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stance. Stoltenberg had received an assurance from him in July at the NATO summit in Lithuania that the path was clear for Swedish accession. In return, Sweden promised to take even tougher action against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned as a “terrorist organization” in Turkey.
After the summit, nothing happened again for months. According to Stoltenberg, Erdogan only forwarded the Swedish accession act to the Turkish parliament after the secretary general intervened with him. Since then she has been stuck in the parliament. Hungary was initially described in NATO as a kind of helper of Turkey. However, the EU – like a NATO member – fell out of favor when Prime Minister Viktor Orban was photographed shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in October.
Against the background of these disputes, NATO is increasingly concerned about the military situation in Ukraine. The foreign ministers will discuss this with their Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday. The Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeryi Zalushnyj recently admitted that the counteroffensive in the Russian war of aggression had come to a “standstill”. Ukraine’s hoped-for breakthrough will probably not happen, he told the Economist.
“It’s a difficult situation, it’s difficult on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg said. But NATO has “no alternative” but to support Ukraine in the second winter of the war. A victory by Russian President Vladimir Putin would be “a tragedy for Ukraine and dangerous for us,” he warned. “Despite all the difficulties, despite the lack of progress, successes or gains in territory, we must continue to support Ukraine,” emphasized Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg praises Germany
He expressed himself more diplomatically in the official press conference. Ukraine has recaptured 50 percent of the territory occupied by Russia, which is “a big win,” emphasized Stoltenberg. In this context, he praised Germany’s doubled aid to Ukraine to eight billion euros.
Meanwhile, Stoltenberg’s successor is being discussed in the alliance. The Norwegian wants to quit for good on October 1, 2024, and there should be clarity by the summit in Washington at the latest. Many member states favor the outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, while Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas have also expressed interest. Regarding Rutte, Stoltenberg said the 56-year-old was “a capable politician with a lot of experience as prime minister.” But it is up to the NATO states to decide on his successor.
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