2023-07-04 16:22:28
Turkey warned on Tuesday that it would remain insensitive to “pressure” and would oppose Sweden’s NATO membership if it were to hinder the Atlantic Alliance, Hungary saying for its part in close contact with Ankara.
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“Turkey disapproves of the use of pressure. We act according to principles,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the press, calling on Sweden to “do its homework” to be able to join NATO.
“The question of whether Sweden’s membership of NATO constitutes a burden or an advantage in strategic and security terms is increasingly subject to debate”, added the minister, a week before the annual summit of the planned for July 11 and 12 in Vilnius.
A meeting is scheduled by then between Sweden and Turkey on Thursday in Brussels, which is expected to bring together foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs and national security advisers.
Hungary, the only other country of the 31 NATO member countries not to have ratified Sweden’s membership, spoke on Thursday of “a series of consultations” with Ankara.
“Contacts will continue in the coming days with the Turkish Foreign Minister, and if there is a change (of position), we will of course keep our promise not to delay the accession of any country”, has declared in Budapest the head of Hungarian diplomacy Peter Szijjarto.
In mid-June, the Parliament had included the Swedish ratification in a document evoking the votes to come, but the subject is ultimately not on the agenda of the extraordinary summer session, which takes place this week.
Turkey, which has blocked Sweden’s entry into NATO since May 2022, lambasted Sweden last week after the burning of a Koran in Stockholm – an act “strongly condemned” and described as “Islamophobic”. by the Swedish government.
Such an act “alters the perception we have of security in Sweden”, judged the Turkish minister.
A similar provocation took place in January from a far-right activist.
Turkey also criticizes Stockholm for its alleged leniency towards Kurdish militants who have taken refuge in Sweden, despite several reforms that have recently come into force.
Ankara is calling for dozens of extraditions of activists it describes as “terrorists” residing on Swedish soil.
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