Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country could approve Sweden바카라s membership in NATO if European nations 바카라open the way바카라 to Turkey바카라s bid to join the European Union.
Erdogan, whose country has been holding off its final approval to Sweden바카라s NATO membership, made the comments in Ankara on Monday before departing to the alliance바카라s summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania.
바카라Turkey has been waiting at the door of the European Union for over 50 years now, and almost all of the NATO member countries are now members of the European Union. I am making this call to these countries that have kept Turkey waiting at the gates of the European Union for more than 50 years,바카라 Erdogan said.
바카라Come and open the way for Turkey바카라s membership in the European Union. When you pave the way for Turkey, we바카라ll pave the way for Sweden as we did for Finland,바카라 he added.
Turkey is a candidate to join the EU, but its membership bid has been stalled due to Ankara바카라s democratic backsliding and disputes with EU-member Cyprus.
Earlier Monday, Sweden바카라s foreign minister had expressed optimism that Turkey would drop its objections to Swedish NATO membership, saying the Nordic바카라s country바카라s accession is a question of when, not if.
Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson were expected to meet later Monday in Vilnius ahead of the two-day NATO summit.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told public broadcaster SVT that he expects Turkey will eventually signal that it will let Sweden join the alliance, though he couldn바카라t say whether that would happen at the annual summit.
바카라What we are counting on, of course, is to reach a point where we get a message back from President Erdogan that there will be what you might call a green light ... a message that the ratification process in the Turkish Parliament can start,바카라 Billström said.
Turkey has stalled Sweden바카라s NATO accession, saying it needs to do more to crack down on Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers as threats to its national security. Anti-Turkey and anti-Islam protests in Stockholm raised doubts that an agreement could be reached before the alliance바카라s summit.
Billström said Sweden has fulfilled its part of a tripartite deal that Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed at last year바카라s NATO summit in Madrid.
바카라We should consider it as a settled question in the sense that it is not a question of if. In connection with the NATO summit in Madrid last year, Turkey already gave Sweden status as an invitee to NATO. It is therefore a question of when,바카라 he said.
Billström said he expects Hungary, which also hasn바카라t ratified Sweden바카라s accession, to do so before Turkey.
In a statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that 바카라Finnish 바카라 and soon Swedish 바카라 membership of the alliance is a historic milestone for NATO, the Nordic region and Denmark바카라s security. And there is no doubt that they will strengthen the security of all allies.바카라
Previously non-aligned Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year following Russia바카라s invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined in April this year.
