NATO on Thursday (June 1) ramped up pressure on member nation Turkey to drop its objections to SwedenB次元官网网址檚 membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month.
The 31-member alliance is also looking at boosting UkraineB次元官网网址檚 non-member status in NATO and preparing a framework for security commitments that it can offer once the war with Russia is over.
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time allied leaders meet in Lithuania on July 11-12. The allies also hope to make progress on long-term funding and the security plan for Ukraine at the same event, Stoltenberg said.
He said the allies continue to agree that Ukraine will become a NATO member one day but that in the meantime the alliance should provide it with security commitments and substantial new funding.
B次元官网网址淥ur focus today was on how we can bring Ukraine closer to NATO where it belongs,B次元官网网址� he said. Most NATO allies agree that Ukraine will not join while it remains at war.
B次元官网网址淣o one knows when the war will end, but we must ensure that when it does, we have credible arrangements in place to guarantee UkraineB次元官网网址檚 security in the future and break RussiaB次元官网网址檚 cycle of aggression,B次元官网网址� Stoltenberg said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the allies were B次元官网网址渇ocused on helping Ukraine to build up its medium- and long-term security capacity so that if and when the current aggression settles, Ukraine has the full capacity to deter future aggression.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淣ATO has a role in that in terms of the work it can do to bring Ukraine up to NATO standards,B次元官网网址� he said. He did not elaborate.
Fearing they might be targeted by Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATOB次元官网网址檚 security umbrella. Finland became NATOB次元官网网址檚 31st member country in April.
NATO must agree unanimously for countries to join. TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 government accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terrorist organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.
Hungary has also delayed its approval, but the reasons why have not been made publicly clear.
Stoltenberg said that he would travel to Ankara B次元官网网址渋n the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden.B次元官网网址�
A NATO diplomat said that Stoltenberg and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could meet this weekend, on the sidelines of the Turkish leaderB次元官网网址檚 inauguration. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity as the precise details of the talks were not finalized.
B次元官网网址淢y message is that Sweden has delivered, and the time has come to ratify Sweden,B次元官网网址� Stoltenberg told reporters at the conclusion of two days of informal talks between alliance foreign ministers to prepare for the summit in Vilnius.
Others echoed his comments.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 time for Sweden to join now,B次元官网网址� Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told reporters.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 confident that also Hungary will ratify the accession protocol,B次元官网网址� Stoltenberg said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it was B次元官网网址渆ssential that we can finally welcome Sweden as the 32nd member.B次元官网网址� She stressed that the Swedish government had BerlinB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渇ull support.B次元官网网址�
SwedenB次元官网网址檚 foreign minister, Tobias Billstr枚m, said that B次元官网网址渋t is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to NATO.B次元官网网址� He said that B次元官网网址渆verything (that) bars Sweden joining NATO will be seen as wine for (Russian president Vladimir) Putin.B次元官网网址�
But speaking to national media, Hungarian Foreign Minister P茅ter Szijj谩rt贸 said: B次元官网网址淲e are not willing to accept any pressure. The Hungarian Parliament will decide on ratification in a sovereign manner, which the government will of course support.B次元官网网址�
For months, Sweden, Finland and Turkey held talks to try to address AnkaraB次元官网网址檚 concerns. Billstr枚m said he expected things to be made clear at a new meeting of this B次元官网网址減ermanent joint mechanismB次元官网网址� in coming weeks.
He noted that as of Thursday, Sweden had tightened its anti-terrorism laws. It is now it illegal to finance, recruit for or publicly encourage B次元官网网址渁 terrorist organization,B次元官网网址� or to travel abroad with the intention of joining such groups.
The time may be ripe for movement. SwedenB次元官网网址檚 NATO membership became embroiled in campaigning for TurkeyB次元官网网址檚 presidential and parliamentary elections last month. Erdogan won reelection in a runoff vote on Sunday. He also has been seeking upgraded U.S. fighter jets, and Washington signaled this week that they might be delivered.
B次元官网网址淚 spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So letB次元官网网址檚 get that done,B次元官网网址� Biden said Monday.
On Tuesday, Blinken insisted that the issues of SwedenB次元官网网址檚 membership and the fighter jets were distinct. However, he stressed that the completion of both would dramatically strengthen European security.
B次元官网网址淏oth of these are vital, in our judgement, to European security,B次元官网网址� Blinken told reporters. B次元官网网址淲e believe that both should go forward as quickly as possible; that is to say SwedenB次元官网网址檚 accession and moving forward on the F-16 package more broadly.B次元官网网址�
Matthew Lee And Lorne Cook, The Associated Press
Like us on and follow us on .
