An agreement for the ratification of Sweden's NATO accession is within reach, as per NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The breakthrough comes after Turkey had blocked Stockholm's membership bid since last year. Stoltenberg announced the progress on July 6 after a meeting with representatives from Sweden, Turkey, and Finland at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.
In a bid to resolve the impasse, Stoltenberg has arranged a meeting between Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, scheduled for July 10 in Vilnius, ahead of the NATO leaders' summit. The aim is to reach a political agreement that would pave the way for Sweden's NATO membership.
Stoltenberg expressed cautious optimism during a press conference.
"What is possible and what we are all working to achieve is a positive decision at the summit where Turkiye makes clear that they are ready to ratify, but then we still have some work to do and we are working on that now," Stoltenberg commented
The issue of Sweden's NATO membership has been a contentious one, with Turkey accusing Sweden of harboring Kurdish PKK terrorists. However, Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Tobias Billström dismissed these accusations in an interview with Euronews, expressing confidence that Sweden has fulfilled all of Ankara's demands.
"I don't want to go into details since, after all, this was a closed meeting, and we don't want to interfere with the ongoing discussions. But again, I would like to reiterate, we believe from our point that we have fulfilled all our commitments. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said as much at his press conference. Now, we are working towards the meeting at the beginning of the summit in Vilnius next week," Billström said.
While an agreement appears imminent, it is important to note that even if a deal is reached, the Turkish parliament will still need to formally ratify Sweden's NATO membership. So far, Hungary is the only country that has also expressed reservations about ratification but has confirmed that it will not block it.
The upcoming meeting between president Erdogan and Prime Minister Kristersson will be a crucial step towards resolving the long-standing deadlock and potentially welcoming Sweden as a member of the NATO alliance.
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