Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters on Tuesday that his government has been in “constant contact” with their Turkish counterparts regarding the Nordic country’s accession to NATO.
“Of course, obviously we have had several contacts also after the election run-off last Sunday,” Kristersson said in a press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Luleå.
A new counter-terrorism law is scheduled to go into force on 1 June, Kristersson said. The new legislation, ratified in May, introduces a prison sentence between four and eight years for promoting, strengthening or supporting extremist groups.
The law also criminalises public encouragement of terrorist organisations, and travelling abroad with an intention to join such groups. In Turkey’s view, the latter would include Syrian Kurdish organisations such as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara believes to be connected to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) but neither Sweden nor the European Union recognises the connection.
“We acknowledged the fact that they have good reasons to have had concerns on how other countries helped them to protect themselves,” Kristersson said. “Every NATO ally has to make its own decision, and only Turkey can make Turkey’s decisions, and we fully respect that.”
“I think it’s to Turkey’s credit that it’s been able to focus all of the Alliance on some of these concerns,” Blinken said at the same conference.
Blinken said Turkey’s negotiations with Washington over the acquisition of new F-16 fighter jets or F-16 upgrades, and the issue of Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession are “distinct issues … both vital to European security”.
Washington wants to see Turkey ratify Sweden’s bid before the NATO summit in Vilnius on 11-12 July, the secretary said. “But again, I can’t put and won’t put odds on it.”
