Sweden takes the terms in the trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Türkiye and Finland in June very seriously, the country’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Tuesday.
Talks between the three countries are continuing with the same level of sobriety, Kristersson stressed as he spoke at a press briefing in Stockholm.
Throwing away their longstanding military nonalignment 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 members. 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, like the PKK, and in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the organization behind the 2016 defeated 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 the extradition of terrorist suspects.
Last week, in a "constructive and productive" visit to Ankara, Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen assured Türkiye’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar that they understood and would work to address Ankara’s security concerns.
The same day, Sweden’s chief negotiator for its NATO accession, Oscar Strenström, also reaffirmed his country’s determination to implement the steps stipulated by the Madrid pact and to take concrete action to distance itself from terrorist groups.
NATO membership is currently a top priority for Sweden as it crafts its new defense policy, Kristersson said Tuesday, reiterating their desire to become a part of the alliance.
"We take the terms and conditions required by the tripartite memorandum very seriously and we continue our talks with the same level of seriousness. We also often speak with Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin about the issue," Kristersson explained.
He also noted a delegation that arrived from Türkiye two weeks ago held a "rather productive" meeting with Swedish and Finnish committees in Stockholm.
Kristersson, who took over the top Swedish office in September, visited Ankara last month and pledged to work toward countering terrorism threats to Türkiye.
Indeed, since the process began, Kristersson’s government has repeatedly assured the country has "changed" and "better understood" the concerns on the Turkish side.
Most recently, Strenström underscored that Stockholm sees "financing terrorism, financing the PKK" is a threat to Türkiye as well as Sweden, as it often goes hand in hand with organized crime. "This is hurting the Swedish society right now," he said and promised the commitments of the deal would be delivered.
"Sweden should and will never be a safe haven for any terrorist, and that's why we're also increasing our cooperation between our security services. We're dedicating more funds to these services and defense. We will be happy to cooperate in NATO," he said.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have warned that Türkiye will not give the nod to the memberships of Sweden and Finland until the memorandum is fully implemented.
In November, the Swedish parliament passed a new anti-terror law that is expected to come into force in the spring of next year and enable "wider criminalization of participation in a terrorist organization or a ban against terrorist organizations."
Earlier in December, Stockholm extradited a PKK member to Türkiye, who Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said was not on the list of people Ankara wanted from Stockholm.
"It’s a good start but Sweden needs to do more before we can approve their NATO membership," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ separately said.