Sweden's new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday that his country is committed to the NATO agreement with Türkiye and that Stockholm will work with all its strength to fulfill the requirements of the deal.
Kristersson, the leader of the Moderate Party, who was elected prime minister with a vote of confidence from the Parliament earlier in the day, 36 days after the elections held on Sept. 11 in Sweden, evaluated the ongoing NATO talks between Türkiye and Sweden.
"I have been elected as prime minister today. Thank you for trusting me. NATO membership is very important for Sweden and Finland. We are committed to the NATO agreement with Türkiye. We will do our best to fulfill the requirements of the agreement between Türkiye, Sweden, and Finland," Kristersson said.
Stating that they will discuss the issue with the Turkish government and officials, Kristersson said, "I believe that we will meet with the Turkish government and officials and reach a solution within the framework of dialogue. As all NATO countries know, we applied jointly with Sweden and Finland for NATO membership. We did our best to make NATO membership necessary. We are doing our best. It is our wish that Sweden and Finland are accepted as partners in NATO membership."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said recently that Türkiye would continue opposing Sweden's NATO membership bid until its demands are met for a tougher Swedish stance against "terrorist organizations."
"As long as terrorist organizations demonstrate on Swedish streets and terrorists are present in their parliament, our approach to the issue will not be positive," Erdoğan told reporters at the Prague meeting of the European Political Community.
For Sweden and Finland to become NATO members, their applications must be ratified by all 30 NATO members. So far, 28 have already done so – only Türkiye and Hungary have votes still pending.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.
However, Türkiye voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
A trilateral memorandum at the NATO Madrid summit signed among the countries in June stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the PKK's Syrian offshoots, the YPG and the PYD, or the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ) – the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.
Sweden and Finland agreed earlier this summer to assure Türkiye of their support against security risks.
Among Türkiye’s demands were the repatriation of some suspects and Sweden lifting its arms embargo.
Sweden said that it is ready to supply weapons to Türkiye as part of its bid to join NATO.
Finland and Sweden also agreed to address Türkiye's pending deportation and extradition requests of terror suspects.
