Main reasons

For more than a year, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opposed Sweden's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance that currently has 31 members, making Sweden's path to NATO more difficult than that of NATO's newest member, Finland (April 2023).

The reason for blocking Sweden's NATO membership is because Ankara is concerned that Stockholm is ready to "welcome" the Kurds, whom Mr. Erdogan considers terrorists.

After Finland, will Sweden's flag soon be raised again at NATO headquarters in Brussels? Illustration photo: AP

However, Sweden's path to NATO membership has been cleared as Türkiye and Sweden reached a consensus on establishing a "new bilateral security treaty", according to a trilateral statement between NATO, Sweden and Turkey.

Sweden will also present a roadmap as a basis for combating terrorism in all its forms. According to the statement, Sweden has changed its laws, expanding its counter-terrorism cooperation efforts to deal with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In addition to the two factors mentioned above, Sweden also agreed to restart arms exports to Turkey, which were suspended in 2019 after Türkiye entered Syria to destroy Kurdish militias.

In addition, Sweden - a member of the European Union (EU), also suggested that it would support President Erdogan's wish for Türkiye to join the union.

International reaction

In a statement, US President Joe Biden, who is visiting the UK before heading to Lithuania for the NATO Summit, which begins today, July 11, welcomed Türkiye's "rapid change".

“I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO ally,” said President Biden.

The US had previously considered suspending the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey if it continued to block Sweden's NATO membership. But with this positive shift, Turkey is likely to receive a new squadron of F-16s worth $20 million. On July 10, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington supports the provision of F-16s to Turkey and supports Ankara's aspirations to join the EU. President Biden affirmed that he is "ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkey to strengthen defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic region."

If admitted, Sweden will be the 32nd member of NATO. Photo: AP

Meanwhile, the NATO Secretary General commented: “Sweden’s completion of NATO membership is a historic step that benefits the security of all NATO allies at this critical time. It makes us all stronger and safer.”

Following the somewhat quicker accession of Finland, NATO's 31st member, and Sweden's readiness, most analysts believe that Sweden's new membership will soon be pushed forward.

Last year, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine that Sweden and Finland's NATO membership would bring significant new military capabilities to the alliance, including advanced air and submarine capabilities, and would change the security architecture of Northern Europe.

According to The World Street Journal , Sweden's NATO membership marks a new era for the Scandinavian country, which has stayed out of international military alliances for the past two centuries. Although it has been reluctant to align itself with any bloc, Sweden has spent the past three decades streamlining its military with NATO systems.

Since the mid-1990s, Sweden has contributed to NATO’s international missions and “made” its military personnel, equipment and command structures NATO compatible. By 2013, Sweden and Finland, NATO’s 31st member, both had permanent army, air force and naval units ready to deploy as part of NATO’s Multinational Response Force.

MAI HUONG (synthesis)