STOCKHOLM \u2014 Sweden will continue efforts to persuade Turkey to lift its block on the entry of the largest Nordic country into defense alliance NATO after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the door to Finland\u2019s accession. <\/p>\n
Erdogan\u2019s decision on Friday to instruct the parliament to ratify the Finnish application dashed the Nordic countries\u2019 hopes of a parallel entry process. Hungary\u2019s announcement that it also plans to treat the bids separately cast further doubt on the timeline for Sweden\u2019s entry.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters in Stockholm, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said his government has done its part on fulfilling an agreement with Turkey the two Nordic countries signed in June last year, adding that it will continue to honor the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cSweden has done what it promised to do when signing the trilateral memorandum,\u201d Billstrom said. \u201cWe have no intent to do neither more nor less than what we have pledged to do.\u201d <\/p>\n
The June agreement, which paved the way for Sweden and Finland\u2019s invitation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, included pledges from the Nordic countries to avoid arms embargoes on Turkey and do more to combat terrorism. However, relations between Ankara and Stockholm soured since then, with Turkey accusing Sweden of not doing enough to crack down on groups that it labels as terrorist. <\/p>\n
Talks came to a standstill earlier this year after an effigy of Erdogan was hoisted upside down from a lamppost in Stockholm, and a Danish Swedish far-right activist burned a Koran outside of the Turkish embassy.<\/p>\n
While Sweden has since moved toward introducing a tighter anti-terror legislation \u2014 after preparing it for years \u2014 and prevented at least two occasions of attempted Koran burnings, Erdogan continued to link Sweden\u2019s ratification to \u201cconcrete steps taken\u201d by the country.<\/p>\n
At a press conference in Ankara earlier Friday, the Turkish president also repeated his demand for Sweden to extradite people that Turkey calls terrorists.<\/p>\n
\u201cSweden has opened its arms to terrorists,\u201d Erdogan said. \u201cWe have given them a list of approximately 120 terrorists and we asked them to send them to Turkiye.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s Supreme Court, which makes decisions on extradition requests, has rejected several appeals from Turkey on various grounds, including risk of persecution. <\/p>\n
In December, the court blocked the extradition of Bulent Kenes, a former editor-in-chief of the oppositional Today\u2019s Zaman newspaper, which Turkey claims was tied to the Gulenist movement, believed to have orchestrated a 2016 coup attempt. Still, Sweden has at least on one occasion extradited a person wanted by Turkey.<\/p>\n
Billstrom said Turkey can expect that decisions on extradition requests \u201ccan be either positive or negative, given that Sweden has an independent judiciary that deals with these issues without any involvement from the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being withheld entry after casting aside 200 years of policy to remain outside of military alliances is disappointing to Sweden, even as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson had sought to prepare his country to the eventuality.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot gaining ratification at the same time as Finland is not good for Sweden,\u201d Magdalena Andersson, head of the opposition Social Democrats and prime minister at the time of the NATO application, told reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s also not good for NATO, both because it\u2019s harmful to NATO\u2019s open-door policy, but also because it makes it more difficult for NATO to defend Finland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finland\u2019s President Sauli Niinisto pledged to continue work to help Sweden\u2019s accession, telling reporters on Friday that \u201cFinland\u2019s NATO membership is not complete without Sweden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking in an interview on YLE TV1 on Saturday, Niinisto said his country\u2019s interests require Sweden\u2019s NATO membership, adding that it would boost Finnish security.<\/p>\n
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