Sweden Has "Strong Support" For Entering NATO In July
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson has weighed in on negotiations between Sweden and Turkey, which are set to resume on Wednesday, shortly on the heels of Stockholm having extradited a PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) supporter to Turkey for the first time.
Jonson now says there's "strong support" for his country joining the NATO alliance in July, in reference to the July 11-12 major annual summit of NATO heads of state in Vilnius, Lithuania. Not only will Sweden's application be discussed, but a new secretary general is expected to be appointed.
"We believe that there is strong support for our application, and we believe that it would be important for NATO that we become full members for the Vilnius Summit," Jonson said on broadcaster SVT.
"The entire northern flank would be strengthened by Sweden also becoming a full member, which would increase the defensibility of Finland and the Baltic countries," he added. Finland became a member on April 4 of this year, but Sweden's application stalled as Turkey and Hungary have withheld approval.
The defense chief also emphasized that full NATO membership remains Sweden's top priority. Separately while on an official visit to Japan, he laid out that "The Swedish government’s highest priority is to become a full-fledged member of NATO as soon as possible," saying further, "We’re hopeful that we can become it by the Vilnius Summit."
Jonson has also boasted this week of Sweden's outsized contribution to Ukraine amid the war. "We think the whole northern flag of NATO would be strengthened by Sweden being a full-fledged member into NATO," he said, and stressed it remains "strongly into our national interest, because if Russia would win the war in Ukraine, it would have disastrous consequences for Sweden and Europe’s security policy, its geostrategic location and military situation in Europe."
"So supporting Ukraine is key for us, and we will continue doing that, as long as it takes," he added, noting too it would deepen Stockholm's ties with the United States in particular.
According to European news sources, Turkey's unbending stance on Sweden in NATO looks to soften after Stockholm began belatedly implementing some of the Erdogan government's desires, and notably the following:
Incidentally, the Swedish government decided on Monday to extradite a PKK supporter to Turkey. The man was convicted of drug offences in Turkey in 2013, but after serving less than six months of his sentence, he was released on parole, left Turkey legally and later moved to Sweden, where he obtained a work permit.
According to the Swedish media, the 35-year-old man argued that the extradition request to serve a sentence for drug offences is a pretext and that the "real reason" for his extradition request is that he is a Kurd, has actively promoted the Kurdish cause, and supports the YPG and the PKK.
Turkey had long accused Sweden of harboring 'terrorists' in its midst, and is likely to ask for more such crackdowns on the large Kurdish community living in Sweden. This has gone so far as asking Swedish authorities crack down on free speech.
As for the Scandinavian country's possible imminent acceptance into NATO, the Biden administration has since March said the "time is now" for it to join.
