ISTANBUL

The Swedish government's folder containing documents from the NATO meeting with Türkiye in 2022 was found at a Swedish airport, local daily Dagens Nyheter reported on Monday.

After Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in November 2022 to discuss Sweden’s NATO membership, an official reportedly forgot a folder containing documents on the talks at Arlanda Airport.

"It is true that an employee at the Government Offices forgot a binder at Arlanda after the Prime Minister's trip to Türkiye and that it was found by airport staff," the government's press service confirmed to the newspaper.

They also confirmed that the folder did not contain classified information but did not provide additional information about how long the folder had been missing or how the incident was handled.

Dagens Nyheter, citing its sources, claimed that parts of the folder's contents were subject to foreign relations secrecy, which covered information that could jeopardize Sweden's relations with other countries.

Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, conditionally approved Sweden's NATO membership on issues concerning the terrorist groups PKK and FETO.

The Swedish government's perceived leniency toward these groups, particularly the PKK, was a key factor in Türkiye's opposition to Sweden's accession.

But, after a series of negotiations and resolutions of objections from other NATO members, Sweden agreed to implement measures to address Türkiye's security concerns, leading to the eventual approval of its membership.

On March 7, 2024, Sweden’s accession to NATO was finalized, and it officially became the alliance’s 31st member.