As Sweden awaits Türkiye’s greenlight for its long-stalled NATO membership bid, it’s expecting that the anti-terror law that will take effect on June 1 will be enough to ease Ankara’s concerns regarding the presence of terrorists and their sympathizers in the Nordic country.

"The reason why Türkiye has yet to approve our accession is due to the widespread activity of the PKK/YPG terror group," Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said in an interview with Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter on Wednesday.

He admitted that the PKK conducts "extensive" activities in Sweden "to an extent previously unknown," which is why Türkiye is holding back Sweden’s NATO membership.

In a historic turnaround, Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military non-alliance and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.

Ankara ratified Finland’s membership last month, but Sweden’s bid is still hamstrung due to recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm that also sent tensions soaring between two Stockholm and Ankara.

Türkiye has also frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but criticizes Stockholm for failing to take action against elements posing a security threat to Ankara.

According to Billström, Sweden, as promised, has stepped up work against the PKK environments. However, "Extensive work is underway to collect money and finance terrorist activities directed at another state – Türkiye."

"As the police have dedicated resources and mapped their work, it is clear this is much a bigger problem than we previously thought," he said, noting that Finland secured its membership faster "because they don’t have these problems."

Sweden’s chief negotiator in the NATO process, Oscar Stenström, has previously hinted that there may also be connections between the PKK’s activities and serious organized crime in Sweden. Billström said that this was precisely the case.

"These groups have clear ramifications for gang crime. The PKK operates with Swedish territory as a base to draw in money via patronage, drug sales, and various things that harm Swedish society. The terrorist activity is not directed against the Swedish state but against another state, which does not make it any less serious," Billström explained.

Pointing out the "many Turkish lives" lost to acts of terrorism and "the widespread concern among the Turkish population about being affected," Billström said, "We have an obligation to Türkiye to deal with these problems."

Ankara also has a list of people it wants to be extradited from Sweden, namely Turkish fugitives from the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which orchestrated the 2016 bloody coup attempt against Türkiye.

Several people have already been released and according to Billström, Ankara can expect more in the future but "it’s still up to the courts," he said, claiming Sweden has "fulfilled its part of the deal."

He also said Stockholm is now awaiting the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 so no talks are scheduled with Sweden’s chief negotiator and the Turkish committee.

While the goal remains for Sweden to become a member "at least by the NATO summit in Vilnius this July," the steps taken so far, including the new anti-terror bill, do not guarantee Türkiye’s ratification, according to Turkish sources.

"The law is not enough on its own because the wait for it has prolonged the process, pushed back some investigations in terror suspects that can only continue after June 1 and will take time," an anonymous Turkish official told Daily Sabah, adding that the Nordic nation would need to show "further concrete action."

The upcoming bill stipulates that participation or association with a terrorist organization will be a punishable offense, including jail time of up to four years and a minimum of two and maximum of eight years in prison if aggravating factors are involved.

Those who supply arms, ammunition, explosives or flammable substances, transport support, lease plots or property to terrorist groups would also face a four-year sentence. In addition, the bill gives Swedish authorities much greater power to detain and prosecute people financing or otherwise providing support to terrorist organizations.

The Swedish parliament is set to vote on the bill on May 3, and the law is already drawing backlash in the country, particularly from PKK supporters.

Local tabloid Dagens ETC wrote, "Democratic freedoms in Sweden are under threat" and claimed Swedish politicians were "doing everything to please Türkiye and not anger President Erdoğan."

It said a group dubbed "Allt ät alla Gothenburg" was preparing to torch the Turkish flag "before the whole world" on the same day Parliament would hold the vote.

"It’s a fundamental right to display the dissatisfaction in Sweden by burning the Turkish flag," the paper claimed and said, "Even if disrespecting the flag is a crime in Türkiye, it’s completely legal in Sweden."