Atilla Altuntas
01 July 2022•Update: 02 July 2022
STOCKHOLM
Sweden fully supports the NATO accession agreement reached with Türkiye, the country’s prime minister said on Thursday.
“We are 100% behind the agreement,” Magdalena Andersson told Swedish daily SVD.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join the alliance last month, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating, and even supporting terrorist groups.
After talks between Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leaders of the two Nordic countries and NATO in Madrid, a trilateral memorandum was signed on Tuesday to open the path for the alliance to officially invite Finland and Sweden to join its ranks.
The two countries have pledged to address Türkiye’s terrorism concerns and lift an arms embargo on Ankara.
It also states that Finland and Sweden will work closely with Türkiye on issues related to exchange of information, extradition and, in general, the fight against terrorism.
On the issue of extradition, Andersson said Türkiye has made extradition requests in the past “and we have dealt with them.”
Sometimes people have been deported, but most of the time they have not, she said.
At a press conference in Madrid earlier on Thursday, Erdogan hailed the memorandum as a “diplomatic victory” for Türkiye.
He said Sweden has promised to extradite 73 terrorists to Türkiye, adding that Ankara will be closely monitoring the implementation of the points agreed in the memorandum “and take steps accordingly.”
