Sweden continues the process of joining NATO, despite the complication of ankara relations, reports Associated Press.
“The process of joining NATO did not stop. The government continues to fulfill the conditions of the memorandum between Sweden, Finland and Turkey. But Turkey must decide when it completes the ratification procedure,” said Tobias Billstrom Foreign Ministry in an interview with Expressen, excerpts from which gives the agency.
At the same time, he noted that Turkey’s discontent in connection with a recent action, during which the Koran was publicly burned in Sweden, complicated the process of entering the North Atlantic Alliance.
Turkey for an indefinite period postponed negotiations with Sweden and Finland about the entry of these countries into NATO after a scandal with the burning of the Qur’an. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commenting on the incident, said that Ankara would no longer support Sweden on the way to the Alliance.
Billstrom expressed the hope that Sweden could join NATO this summer.
“, of course, that we are waiting for the NATO summit in Vilnius,” he said, answering the question of the dates of the country’s possible accession to the Alliance. The summit will be held in the capital of Lithuania on July 11-12, 2023.