Sweden's foreign minister slammed one of the country's socialist political parties Tuesday for promoting the PKK terrorist organization during Almedalen Week, an annual political festival being held on the island of Gotland.
"This is completely unacceptable. The PKK was branded a terrorist organization as early as 1984 by Olof Palme's government. And with good reason. The PKK has many innocent human lives on its conscience," Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Twitter, tagging Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson.
Linde called on the Left Party to immediately stop supporting the PKK terrorist group.
Johansson also warned the Left Party by posting the same statement on Twitter.
The statement came after Left Party lawmakers Daniel Riazat, Momodou Malcolm Jallow and Lorena Delgado Varas posed with flags of the PKK and its branches including its Syrian wing YPG during the Almedalen political forum.
The forum is an event that sees each of the leaders of Sweden's main political parties give speeches and present policy suggestions.
Sweden and Finland shunned neutrality and applied to join the NATO military alliance in May, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.
But Turkey, a longstanding member of the alliance, voiced objections to their membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
Ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid last week, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a memorandum after four-way talks that included the alliance.
The agreement allows the two Nordic countries to become NATO members but on the condition that they take steps over Turkey's terrorism concerns and lift an arms embargo on Ankara.
Following the trilateral deal, NATO formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the 30-member military alliance.
Representatives from NATO's 30 member states on Tuesday signed accession protocols for Finland and Sweden, after their invitations to the military alliance at the historic summit in Madrid last week.
The NATO secretary-general and the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden held a press conference in Brussels following the signing of protocols, where they answered journalists' questions about the trilateral memorandum with Turkey, in which they pledged to address Ankara's concerns about their stance on the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Reiterating that the NATO allies had agreed to invite the two Scandinavian countries to join the alliance, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said NATO ambassadors had just signed the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden.
"This is a historic day for Finland, for Sweden, for NATO and for Euro-Atlantic security," he said, adding: "Today, we have shown once again that NATO's door is open."
The NATO chief also thanked Ankara, Helsinki and Stockholm for their "constructive approach."
"Trilateral agreement they signed at Madrid summit made today possible," he continued.
"I know all three parties are working hard on the implementation and robust follow-through, especially in the fight against terrorism," he remarked.
Stoltenberg said the next step now is to "ensure the speed ratification" of the accession according to their national procedures.
Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, for his part, said the Madrid summit made a "historic decision" to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of the alliance.
"I am pleased to see the signing of accession protocol by all NATO allies," he said.
"Look forward to participating in work of alliance as invitee member from now on."
Swedish Foreign Minister Linde said her country will contribute to the "security of all allies."
She believes that joining NATO is the best way for Sweden to "ensure our national security and keep Swedish people safe."
On the historic memorandum signed by Ankara, Helsinki and Stockholm at the summit, the top Swedish diplomat said: "We made a memorandum of understanding between Finland, Sweden and Turkey to address the concern of Turkey when it comes to security and terrorism.
"We will honor that memorandum. We will also have a joint mechanism."
She expressed her hopes for a quick ratification process.
In response to questions about the memorandum, Stoltenberg said: "I think that the unity that NATO allies have demonstrated by inviting Finland (and) Sweden to join and also the unity we demonstrated at the Madrid summit shows how NATO is able to deliver when we need to stand together."
Finland's foreign minister, for his part, said his country has always had a "very good and long-term relationship" with Turkey.
"When Turkey applied for EU membership, we were one of those countries that advocated (for) that process," he reiterated.
So this constant communication, of course, will continue now also during this ratification process, he vowed. "In this document, and in this memorandum, we have actually addressed all those concerns that also Turkey raised, including the terrorists, the PKK," he added.
Stoltenberg also added that the memorandum is "very important" because it is a "strong document" that provides a good platform for Finland, Sweden and Turkey to work together in fighting terrorism, which, he defines as a "great concern" for all the allies.
