Sweden will fulfill every promise it has made under the NATO deal signed with Türkiye to address Ankara’s security concerns, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said on Thursday.

"We are committed to fulfilling every obligation within this memorandum to the last letter as long as it is within the framework of the constitution of Sweden and the legislation and principles of rule of law," Billström told Türkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA) in an exclusive interview.

Billström’s comments followed a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in the capital Ankara to discuss bilateral relations and Sweden's NATO membership process.

In a shift away from their longstanding military non-alignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Sweden and fellow Nordic nation Finland officially applied for NATO membership in June. For the two countries to join the alliance, their applications must be ratified by all 30 NATO member states. While 28 members have done so, Türkiye and Hungary have been withholding their votes, with Ankara criticizing, especially Sweden, for harboring members of various terrorist groups, such as the PKK, and in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the organization behind the defeated 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye.

The sides inked a tripartite agreement on June 28 at a NATO summit in Madrid, where Stockholm and Helsinki vowed to address Türkiye’s security concerns and fulfill key demands such as tougher anti-terror laws and extradition of terrorist suspects.

Sweden has extradited three people, including a PKK member, to Türkiye, Billström told Anadolu Agency (AA), referring to the deportation of Turkish citizen Mahmut Tat earlier in December, which Ankara welcomed as a "good start" while adding it "wasn’t enough" for Türkiye to ratify their application.

Sweden will have a new amendment to their constitution as of the new year, making it possible to pass stricter counterterrorism laws, Billström added.

"Step-by-step we are fulfilling our commitments within the memorandum and I'm sure you appreciate amending the constitution is a big thing. It's a big thing for any country, but we are doing this because we have committed ourselves to improve our ability to combat terrorism and we're doing it hand-in-hand with Türkiye, which was also at the press conference acknowledged by Foreign Minister (Mevlüt) Çavuşoğlu," he said.

‘Stockholm understands Türkiye’

Sweden is now much more enlightened about the problems Türkiye is facing when it comes to terrorism, Billström said, noting that the memorandum has had a "sobering effect."

"Türkiye, for decades has been a victim of terrorism. Recently in November, the country suffered another terrorist attack on its territory. I mean that took place in one of the most crowded streets of Istanbul. We can understand this and we can understand the worries this has created in Turkish society," he explained.

He stressed that PKK activities should be prohibited not just because of the memorandum, but also because Sweden is an EU member, which designates the PKK as a terrorist organization.

The PKK, along with its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign against Türkiye and the region’s inhabitants for decades, attacking security forces and civilians. The PKK has single-handedly been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984, with its massacres peaking especially in the 1990s.

"We will fulfill everything laid down in the memorandum. And when that is done, it will pave way for an improved relationship between Türkiye and Sweden, not only for NATO accession. That is one thing and it is important.

"We will also be able to do a lot of things together and we want to do just that, and this is also my promise to the Turkish people, as we sit here today just a few days before the 1st of January, that we will change our constitution. We do this in good faith and we do it because we know that this is also important for you, not just for us," Billström assured.

Turning to Russia, the minister said without Sweden and Finland, it will be "very difficult" for NATO to uphold its security ambitions on its northern flank.

"It is quite clear with the Russian threat so close, it would be very beneficial for us, it would be imperative to join NATO. We will also offer NATO a lot of benefits," he said.

‘Mutual Interest’

Later in the day, Billström also came together with the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission chief and ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Istanbul Representative, Çağatay Kılıç.

"Relations between people and their representatives are pivotal. Türkiye insists on believing that should disagreements arise, they must be resolved through diplomacy and mutual goodwill," Kılıç told the assembly as he welcomed the Swedish diplomat.

Billström, for his part, pointed out that the two countries were undergoing a "complicated" process involving "various matters."

"It was a highly productive meeting we had with your foreign minister. I believe we have made progress," he said.

He reiterated that the Swedish defense committee is set to visit Türkiye starting next year, adding: "I can say that interest towards Türkiye is broadly mirrored in the Swedish parliament. These tasks can be conducted in line with friendship groups, too."