Turkey links EU membership bid to row over Sweden joining NATO as summit looms

10 July 2023 , 14:20

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Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke before flying to Vilnius for the NATO summit (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Turkey’s President wants to use Sweden’s bid to join NATO to speed-up Turkey’s membership of the EU.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who holds talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tonight, suggested Ankara would finally approve Stockholm’s application - if NATO countries piled pressure on the EU to allow Turkey to join.

The row risks overshadowing the crunch NATO summit starting in Lithuanian capital Vilnius tomorrow. Mr Erdogan said: “Turkey 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.”

He added: “Come and open the way for Turkey’s membership in the European Union. When you pave the way for Turkey, we’ll pave the way for Sweden as we did for Finland.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is due to hold talks with NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tonight (AP)

Finland and Sweden launched applications to join the NATO last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Helsinki was admitted in April, Sweden’s accession has stalled. Months of tense negotiations have failed to break the deadlock - hampering Stockholm’s hopes of benefiting from NATO’s Article V self-defence and protection clause. It states that an attack on one alliance country is an attack on all.

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NATO boss Mr Stoltenberg said while he backed Turkey’s application to join the EU, Sweden had already met all the conditions laid out for NATO membership at last year’s summit in Spain’s capital. Speaking in Vilnius, he added: “I support Turkey’s ambitions to become a member of the European Union. At the same time, we need to remember what we agreed in Madrid was a specific list of conditions that Sweden has to meet to be a full member of the alliance. Sweden has met these conditions.”

Mr Stoltenberg wants leaders to present a united front (Getty Images)

The ongoing row threatens to drive a wedge between Ankara and the rest of NATO when most leaders are desperate to demonstrate unity following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Coalition leaders hoped to agree Stockholm’s membership before this week’s summit.

Mr Stoltenberg said: “It’s still possible to have a positive decision on Swedish membership in Vilnius. We don’t have any certainty, we don’t have any guarantees, but of course now we have the momentum of the summit with the leaders there, and we will use that momentum to ensure as much progress as possible.”

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Ben Glaze