Türkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Thursday said Sweden is yet to fulfill its commitments regarding the fight against terrorism before Ankara starts ratification of the Nordic country's accession to NATO.
A key partner of the military alliance, Türkiye has firmly opposed Sweden's bid to join NATO, urging it to fulfill certain conditions, including strict measures against terrorist groups and extraditing members of those groups wanted by Ankara.
The conditions were a part of a deal between Türkiye, Finland and Sweden signed at a NATO summit in Madrid last year.
"A crystal clear message to our Swedish Friends! Fulfill your commitments arising from Trilateral Memorandum & take concrete steps in the fight against terrorism. The rest will follow," Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.
His remarks came as a reply to Sweden, which on Thursday suggested it had fulfilled all the conditions set to become a member of the military alliance.
"We have fulfilled all our commitments," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told reporters in Oslo, where he was invited to attend a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
"It is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of Swedish membership to NATO," Billstrom said.
He said that "everything (that) bars Sweden joining NATO will be seen as win for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."
Fearing they might be targeted by Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO's security umbrella. Finland became NATO's 31st member country in April after it fulfilled Ankara's criteria.
NATO must agree unanimously for countries to join.
Hungary has also delayed Sweden's approval, but the reasons why have not been mahave not been clarified publiclyal media, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said: "We are not willing to accept any pressure. The Hungarian Parliament will decide on ratification in a sovereign manner, which the government will of course support."
For months, Sweden, Finland and Türkiye held talks to try to address Ankara's concerns. Billstrom said he expected things to be made clear at a new meeting of this "permanent joint mechanism" in the coming weeks.
He noted that as of Thursday, Sweden had tightened its anti-terrorism laws, citing a new bill that came into force. It is now it illegal to finance, recruit for or publicly encourage "a terrorist organization," or to travel abroad with the intention of joining such groups.
The Nordic country as well as some other NATO members on Thursday expressed optimism that now that Türkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections are over, Ankara would greenlight Sweden's membership before a summit in Latvia in July.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won reelection in a runoff vote on May 28, extending his rule until 2028.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he would soon travel to Türkiye to discuss Sweden's NATO membership.
Stoltenberg said he had spoken earlier this week to Erdoğan.
"I will also travel to Ankara in the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden," he told reporters.
"Now that Turkish elections are over, it is important that Turkey goes on with the ratification process," said Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
Stoltenberg said at the end of the meeting that with the Turkish election over, "it is important to restart the dialogue and the process," noting that Sweden had on Thursday implemented new terrorism legislation, thus addressing a key Turkish concern.
"Sweden has delivered," Stoltenberg said. "The time has come to ratify Sweden (its membership) and I am working hard so that it happens as soon as possible."
Separately, U.S. President Joe Biden predicted on Thursday Sweden will join NATO "soon." Speaking at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Biden said NATO is stronger in spite of Putin's attempt to crack the alliance with his invasion of Ukraine. It is bolstered further, he said, by the recent admission of Finland, "and soon, Sweden."
"It will happen, I promise you," he said, but provided no details.
On Monday, Biden congratulated Erdoğan on his reelection and said the two leaders would speak again soon.
