The American President, Joe Bideninsists that he wants Sweden to join NATO, upon receiving the Swedish prime minister at the White House, Ulf Kristerssona week before the summit of the Atlantic Alliance.
In the Oval Office, Biden He stated that he “impatiently” wants Stockholm’s accession and that he “fully supports it”.
“The bottom line is simple: Sweden will make our alliance stronger,” added the US president.
Kristersson he thanked him for his determined leadership in maintaining “transatlantic unity” during the upheaval that sparked the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also praised his “strong support” to the Swedish candidacy and said that his country has “things to contribute” to NATO.
The US wants Sweden to enter the Alliance before the organization’s next summit, to be held in Vilnius on 11 and 12
Like many of its allies, the United States wants Sweden to join the Alliance before the organization’s next summit, to be held in Vilnius on 11 and 12 of July. Finland joined on April 4.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Biden, the Swedish prime minister said that both saw the Vilnius summit as “an appropriate moment for accession.”
“But only Türkiye can make Turkish decisions,” he estimated.
On Sunday, Biden leaves for Britain, his closest ally, on a day trip before attending the NATO summit in Vilnius, before ending with a visit to its newest member, Finland.
Biden sees the bloc’s expansion and its gigantic efforts to arm Ukraine as a strategic defeat for Moscow, as well as its greatest diplomatic achievement.
The veto of Türkiye and Hungary
But there is still no unanimous decision. Turkey and Hungary are the only ones of the 31 NATO member states that have not yet ratified Sweden’s accession.
The discrepancies are due to Sweden’s position on Kurdish opposition movements, such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)which Ankara includes on its blacklist of groups it considers «terrorists».
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoganacknowledged on Wednesday that Sweden has taken steps in “the right direction”but the demonstrations by PKK sympathizers on Swedish soil make these measures “meaningless.”
Bilateral relations were further complicated last week when an Iraqi burned a copy of the Koran outside Stockholm’s main mosque.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinkon Wednesday called his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidanto “underline the importance of NATO unity at such a critical time and urge Turkey to support Sweden’s immediate entry into the Alliance.”
Kristersson’s visit to Washington precedes negotiations scheduled in Brussels this week with Turkish and Swedish representatives.
Before Vilma
In Hungary, Parliament included Stockholm’s candidacy among the issues it must vote on, but it is expected to adjourn on July 7, four days before the Vilnius summit.
Western countries, most notably the United States, have called on Ankara to give Stockholm the green light as Sweden has respected the terms of an agreement reached with Turkey last year on its position on Kurdish opposition movements.
But on Tuesday sapling rejected that the NATO summit be taken as the last deadline for Sweden’s accession and stressed that Türkiye will remain impassive in the face of “pressures” and that he will oppose the accession of Sweden if it constitutes a ‘burden’ for the Atlantic Alliance.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shaken security in Europe, prompting Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership after decades of neutrality and military non-alignment.
