NATO representatives will meet with Swedish, Finnish and Turkish delegates to further negotiations on Sweden’s path towards membership of the North Atlantic bloc, in a crucial diplomatic assembly set to take place in Turkey’s capital Ankara on Wednesday, the Presidency of Communications of Turkey announced.
Turkey has yet to give explicit endorsement to the Nordic country’s bid. Meanwhile, the United States and other NATO member countries look on eager to see Sweden’s accession realised at the 11-12 July NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The Ankara meeting will primarily focus on the steps Sweden has taken to fulfil commitments outlined in a trilateral memorandum signed last year between Turkey, Finland and Sweden after Turkey initially opposed the Nordic countries’ application for NATO membership.
In the memorandum, the Turkish government laid down conditions it required Sweden to meet in return for granting approval to the country’s accession bid, including the extradition from Sweden of individuals Turkey designates as terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson committed to comply with Turkey’s demands, and has since begun several extradition cases.
A development speculated to influence the discussion process is Sweden’s recent authorisation for the extradition of a Kurdish individual to Turkey. Sweden’s top court ruled to hand the self-declared Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporter over to Turkey on 12 June.
A representative from Sweden’s Ministry of Justice, Ashraf Ahmed, told Swedish state TV after the ruling on Monday that the government had given the final approval required for the extradition of the 35-year-old individual.
Furthermore, Sweden recently enacted a controversial anti-terrorism law, which sparked debates over concerns for the legislation’s potential negative impact on the liberties of Kurdish communities in the country and freedom of expression.
In another development likely to come up in the NATO-bid discussions, Sweden’s Supreme Court overturned a ban on the act of Quran burning imposed by the country’s police, citing security concerns.
Earlier this year, a far-right politician burnt a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, igniting a heated diplomatic row between Ankara and Stockholm which temporarily disrupted the NATO negotiations.
