“The new target date for Sweden’s entry into NATO is April 4, 2024, when the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Alliance will be celebrated, the daily Dagens Nyheter wrote on Tuesday.
New date for Sweden’s accession to NATO
According to the newspaper, the current date of Sweden’s entry into NATO at the Vilnius summit (July 11-12) is becoming increasingly unlikely.
Behind the scenes, the government in Stockholm is working on a new NATO accession date at the Washington Summit to celebrate the alliance’s 75th anniversary
— indicate political and military sources.
From a military-strategic point of view, such thinking is reasonable
– said the Chief of Staff of Swedish Defense General Michael Claesson. At the same time, he noted that due to defense cooperation with Finland, Sweden should not wait more than a year to join NATO.
Defense cooperation between Sweden and Finland
Our relationship with Helsinki has not changed with Finland’s accession to NATO, but the country will have to change its priorities
Claesson noted.
Another important reason why Sweden should join NATO within a year, according to Dagens Nyheter, is the US presidential election in November 2024. The incumbent president, Joe Biden, is considered to be in favor of Stockholm’s rapid entry into NATO.
The head of Swedish diplomacy Tobias Billstroem believes Sweden still has a chance to join NATO during the Vilnius summit.
We are on it all the time
he said in an interview with the newspaper.
Still no approval of accession of Turkey and Hungary
There have been no Swedish-Turkish talks in recent weeks. The Swedish government awaits the results of the second round of the presidential election in Turkey. According to Dagens Nyheter, the country’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has delayed ratification of Sweden’s application for almost a year, is most likely to win elections on Sunday and rule for the next five years. Recently on Friday, Erdogan reiterated that he was still against Sweden joining NATO.
With the exception of Turkey, Hungary has not yet officially ratified Sweden’s accession to NATO.
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rm/PAP
Source: wPolityce