Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson predicted today, Tuesday, that Finland would join NATO before Sweden, but stressed that Sweden's membership in the military alliance is only a matter of time. Sweden and Finland submitted their applications to join NATO last year; however, they faced objections from Turkey, which claims that the two countries host members of groups it considers terrorist. The three countries recently resumed talks regarding their membership in the alliance in Brussels last week. Ankara clarified that its objections to Sweden's NATO membership are stronger than those regarding Finland.
Kristersson stated that Turkey has not changed its position, meaning the two Scandinavian countries may not join the alliance together as they prefer. He added during a press conference in Stockholm, before departing for a visit to Germany, "What we have faced in recent weeks is that the likelihood of that happening at different times has increased." He stated, "In the end, it is not about whether Sweden will join NATO or not, but about when it will join."
Turkey acknowledged in the Brussels meeting last week that Sweden and Finland have taken concrete steps to address the concerns raised by Ankara, and the three countries agreed to hold further meetings in their efforts to join the alliance. In January, Turkey suspended talks made under an agreement reached in Madrid last year aimed at facilitating Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO after a far-right politician burned a copy of the Quran in Stockholm. Sweden indicated that it has fulfilled its part of the Madrid agreement. The Swedish parliament is set to pass new anti-terrorism legislation as part of efforts to reassure Turkey that Sweden is taking its concerns about extremists seriously.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not yet ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance. Kristersson stated that other NATO members are pressuring Ankara to quickly approve his country's membership.
