İbrahim Kalın, the official representative of the President of Turkey, said that the country is not in a position to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO. Quoted by a French newspaper. Le Figaro.
“We are not in a position to send the law to parliament for approval, we have a serious problem in this regard,” the representative of the Turkish leader said.
According to him, lawmakers can reject it.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson declarationThat the Turkish authorities formulated conditions under which it was impossible for Stockholm to join the North Atlantic Alliance.
Prior to that, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a tripartite memorandum that removed the barriers for countries to join NATO. In particular, it concerns the lifting of restrictions on the defense industry in Ankara, as well as the ban on the activities of organizations considered terrorist in Turkey.
Last spring, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO. So far, only 28 out of 30 NATO members have approved the applications of the two countries. Turkey and Hungary did not approve of the initiative.