"If you want Sweden to join NATO, first accept Turkey to the European Union" - Erdogan

Sweden's NATO membership will become possible after Turkey's accession to the European Union. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed about this.

According to the Turkish leader, Ankara wants all the promises made to it to be fulfilled.

"Turkey was forced to wait 50 years at the door of the European Union. I say to these countries that are making us wait, I will say this in Vilnius: first open the doors of the European Union for Turkey, then we will open the way to NATO for Sweden, just like we did to Finland," he said. Erdogan at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul before flying to Vilnius for the NATO summit.

As the Turkish president noted, he conveyed this condition to US President Joe Biden.

For reference, Turkey has been a candidate since 1999, and Croatia was the last to join the EU in 2013, a process that took ten years. Since 2016, negotiations between Turkey and the European Union on the visa-free regime have been practically suspended.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a meeting in Vilnius between Erdogan and Kristersson to remove obstacles to Sweden's North Atlantic alliance. The meeting will be held on the eve of the NATO summit on July 11-12. In it, the parties intend to announce the entry of a new member, but a final credential has not yet been reached.

Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance in May 2022 against the background of the events in Ukraine. Finland became the 31st member of NATO on April 4. Sweden's application has not yet been approved by Hungary and Turkey.

Source: Xabardar.uz