- The US government renews its calls for Sweden to join NATO amid Turkey's continued holdout
- Stockholm filed its application to join the military alliance at the same time as Finland, which Angara allowed in April 2023
- Turkey's holdout is mainly over its concerns regarding Kurdish militants that are allegedly hiding out in the two countries
The United States government renewed its calls for Sweden to join NATO, urging Turkey to vote yes and drop its objections shortly after President Tayyip Recep Erdogan won his re-election bid.
Sweden filed its application to join the global military alliance alongside Finland last year, reversing decades of hesitation. The decision was made following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, causing a shift in the balance of power in the region.
US Renews Calls for Sweden To Join NATO
The stalemate with Stockholm's application results from the military alliance needing a unanimous decision among its members when taking in new allies. Turkey has used this as leverage and pushed its demands on Sweden regarding Kurdish militants, as per NDTV.
In a statement, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Sweden is already "within reach" to join just in time for the NATO summit that will be held on July 11 to July 12 in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
Stoltenberg said that without guarantees, the involved parties could reach a solution. This would be one that would include Sweden's full membership in the military alliance.
During his visit to Sweden on his to Oslo, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Swedish government had already addressed Turkey's concerns. He added that it was finally time for Turkey and Hungary, which also blocks Sweden's application, to ratify Stockholm's accession as quickly as possible.
Turkey's Continued Refusal
Blinken made his remarks while speaking alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday. He said that from the United States government's perspective, it was already time to finalize Stockholm's accession, according to Aljazeera.
The renewed calls for Sweden to join NATO come as the military alliance has a collective defense pact, which means that an attack on any one of its members means an attack on all of the member countries.
The alliance unanimously allowed new countries to join its ranks, which was the case when Finland entered the fray. But Turkey has continued to claim that Sweden is harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Angara considers a "terrorist" group.
United States President Joe Biden also discussed Sweden's accession to the global military alliance with Erdogan. The discussion happened during a call between the two leaders, where they also talked about Ankara's desire to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the American military.
The call happened as Biden tried to congratulate Erdogan for winning his re-election bid in Turkey's recent elections. The Democratic leader said that he spoke with the Turkish president and expressed his desire to get a deal that would have Stockholm join NATO, said Reuters.
