Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

NATO chief: ‘My aim’ is for Sweden to join alliance by July

NATO chief: ‘My aim’ is for Sweden to join alliance by July

In an interview with POLITICO, Jens Stoltenberg lauds Finland’s NATO breakthrough on Thursday and argues that Sweden could still join soon.
Sweden could still become a NATO member by summer, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told POLITICO on Thursday as Finland moved ahead on its own to join the military alliance.

The two Nordic countries initially applied to join NATO together last year, but their fates diverged Thursday after Turkey ratified Finland’s bid while leaving Sweden behind — the product of a lingering dispute over the country’s support for Kurdish groups and limitations on arms exports.

Stoltenberg insisted in an interview that Sweden could still get its own green light after Turkey’s May elections. Turkey’s relationship with Sweden has grown especially contentious ahead of the elections, following a Quran-burning protest in Stockholm earlier this year.

“My aim remains that after the Turkish elections, but before the Vilnius summit, we can also have the ratification of Sweden,” the secretary-general said from NATO headquarters in Brussels, referencing the alliance’s annual gathering on July 11.

He did not say, however, if that would require a change in governments. Long-time Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is regularly accused of democratic backsliding, is facing a serious threat to his power for the first time in years.

Stoltenberg stressed that the decision is ultimately up to Turkey. Hungary has also withheld ratification, but Turkey is seen as the ultimate roadblock for Sweden.

“We speak about sovereign national parliaments, and of course, I cannot provide any guarantees on behalf of them,” he said.

The NATO chief argued that even getting Finland into NATO after months of delays — also the result of Turkey-led objections over similar issues — shows the military alliance is working amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Finland’s final ratification “demonstrates that NATO’s door remains open,” he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added, got “the opposite of what he wanted — and Finland will make NATO stronger.”

If both Finland and Sweden join the alliance, Stoltenberg noted, 96 percent of the European Union’s population will soon live in a NATO country.

“Today is an historic day,” he proclaimed.

But probed about the lagging Swedish bid, which has fueled a degree of frustration within the alliance, the secretary-general expressed hope that Turkey could sign off on Sweden’s membership between the May 14 election and the July summit.

Stoltenberg underscored that, in his view, Stockholm has done its part to address Ankara’s concerns.

“Sweden has met their obligations under the trilateral memorandum that was agreed,” he said, referencing a deal Ankara struck with both Helsinki and Stockholm that spurred policy changes in both countries.

“There were hard negotiations, but Sweden has proven that they are stepping up their cooperation with Turkey, fighting terrorism, exchanging more intelligence, information — and there are no restrictions on arms exports” from Sweden to Turkey, he added.

The secretary-general also reiterated that even though Sweden is not yet a member of the club, it is not alone.

“Sweden is in a total different situation, and much more secure now than before they applied,” he said.

“They’re now sitting at the NATO table,” he said, pointing out that the alliance has boosted its presence in the region and some allies have given Sweden security assurances.

“I will work hard to get the ratification of Sweden in place as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said. “But no, it’s not as if in this meantime Sweden is alone, without any friends, without any security.”

“It’s inconceivable,” the secretary-general said, “that we will not react if there’s any military threat.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Budapest Post
Close
0:00
0:00
Climate cultists thought they had sabotaged another beautiful event — then the cameraman had his revenge.
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Elon Musk's SpaceX and Italy's Unipol join forces to help Italians hit by flooding
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received a warm welcome at an Arab summit in Jeddah
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
Vienna: Passenger Plays Hitler Speeches on Train, Causes Panic
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
King Charles III being crowned.
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
Ahead of King Charles’ coronation, British guards rehearse in the middle of the night in London
Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm
Kim Kardashian Lookalike Christina Ashten Dies Of Cardiac Arrest, Hours After Plastic Surgery
Samsung has banned employees from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
Tucker Carlson is back, soon!
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
×