Swedish Parliament Discusses Anti-Terror Bill for NATO Bid Talks

Swedish parliament set to ratify an anti-terror bill on Tuesday that is part of the deal signed with Turkey as one of the conditions of the NATO bid. Should the lawmakers allow it to pass, it will be in effect by June 1. Unless it is done, then joining the military bloc is not possible.

Swedish Parliament Convenes for Anti-Terror Bill

Sources say the Swedish media says the new counterterrorism law is aimed at the money and helping these terrorists. Part of the law is penalizing assisting terrorists when formalized by lawmakers, reported Anews.

Turkey and Sweden agreed on a deal that the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) in Sweden be surrendered. It was them who tried a coup in 2016 in Turkey.

Sweden's half-baked efforts were insufficient for Ankara to agree to its NATO accession. A meeting was canceled between Finland and Sweden regarding their bid due to an offensive incident. Swedes allowed a Danish far-right politician to offend Turkey when he burned the Quran in the Turkish embassy in Stockholm last January 21.

Part of the deal was passing an anti-terrorism law last November that would comply with the deal signed with Ankara for their bid. But Turkey was not satisfied that it was enough because more was needed to be done curtailing the PKK and FETO, noted Anadolu.

Nordic Nations' NATO Bid Under Consideration

To facilitate the entry of the Nordic countries to NATO with the scheduled foreign ministerial-level meeting set in Brussels on Thursday.

Sweden says it will follow the demands as part of the trilateral memorandum agreed on last June during a NATO summit in Madrid, cited The Daily Sabah.

Turkey has expressed dissatisfaction over the efforts of Stockholm regarding the matter of the PKK and FETO as the bone of contention. Oscar Stenstrom, Sweden's chief negotiator for NATO accession, has been criticized by Ankara due to what has happened. He stated that the attitude of the Swedish government about harboring terrorists is changing.

He stated they adjusted their outlook regarding getting Ankara's approval unless their security concerns were addressed, adding that it concerns Sweden's security.

Nordic Nations To Prioritize Terrorism Concerns

The Swedish negotiation remarked that Stockholm would not house any terrorist entities, so the action is to increase security. To do this with more expenses and measures for security service and defense, they stated that they want to help and cooperate with the military bloc.

A list of those wanted by Ankara for terrorism who are wanted and should be extradited to prove the applicant is sincere. But Erdogan has said these people are still not in the custody of turkey.

The Turkism FM said these steps are needed to ratify the bids, and the Brussels meeting is part of that. But efforts by Sweden have been lauded by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu saying there were changes made to its laws. Most promising is a new bill as Turkey wanted from June's agreement.

Swedish parliament must satisfy the NATO bid with an anti-terror bill, or Turkey will not approve joining the military bloc.