Sweden's efforts to join the NATO military alliance have started to bear fruit as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to have last-ditch negotiations to address the issues regarding the deadlock.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said an agreement to ratify Sweden's accession is already within reach. The official spoke regarding the matter on Thursday after meeting with Finland, Sweden, and Turkey representatives.
Sweden's NATO Membership Application
The meeting was held at the NATO military alliance's headquarters, which is located in Brussels. Stoltenberg said he had already convened a meeting held between Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for Monday in Vilnius.
The situation comes ahead of a summit of NATO leaders discussing reaching a political agreement. The NATO chief said there is a possibility of a positive decision but noted that there is still work to do to address the disagreements, per Euro News.
Stoltenberg said that they had a meeting and added that officials would be working over the weekend and that he would be meeting with the prime minister and the president on Monday. Sweden's NATO application was made simultaneously with Finland's, but it faces tougher rejection from Turkey.
This is because Turkey accuses Sweden of harboring what Ankara officials described as Kurdish PKK terrorists. However, Swedish foreign affairs minister Tobias Billstrom said he was confident that Stockholm had already fulfilled Turkey's demands.
During an interview, Billstrom said that he would not go into the details of the situation because it was a closed meeting, and he did not want to interfere with ongoing discussions. He noted that Stoltenberg said as much during a previous press conference.
Stoltenberg said it was already time for Sweden to join NATO, arguing that further delay would only benefit Kurdish terrorists and Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that he was in contact with his Turkish counterpart, noting that if Ankara changed its stance, it would not block Sweden's accession, according to the New York Times.
Last-Ditch Negotiations
This means that Sweden's membership application rests in the hands of Erdogan, and if no agreement is reached at the next summit, it is unclear what would be able to break the deadlock. NATO officials expressed concern that Turkey's stance could hold out for several months, which would become a symbolic victory for Putin.
The NATO chief said that the real challenge of the situation was bridging the gap between what Sweden has done and Turkey has an understanding of what Stockholm has accomplished.
Despite Stoltenberg's optimistic view of the situation, a statement from Turkey and Sweden suggested that the gap was considerable and difficult to bridge. This was at least as far as their negotiation positions were concerned prior to their meeting.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said they wanted to see legislative change reflected in Sweden. He added that Stockholm could not prevent provocations, which affected Ankara's stance on the matter, said Al-Monitor.
