While Stockholm says it’s in a “good position” regarding accession, Ankara is less enthusiastic
Top Swedish and Turkish officials have made contradictory statements on negotiations to unblock Stockholm’s NATO bid. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the country was in a “very good position” – hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded Stockholm surrender more than 100 individuals it deems to be “terrorists.”
“The situation in terms of the negotiations, or rather the follow-up of the memorandum, is going well,” Kristersson stated.
The Swedish PM’s tone differed statements made by Erdogan late on Sunday.
“We said look, so if you don’t hand over your terrorists to us, we can’t pass [the ratification of the NATO bid] through the parliament anyway,” he said. “For this to pass the parliament, first of all you have to hand more than 100, around 130 of these terrorists to us.”
The remarks echoed statements made on Saturday by Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s spokesman, who noted time was running out for Ankara to ratify the bids by Sweden and Finland to join the bloc.
“Stockholm is fully committed to implementing the agreement that was signed last year in Madrid, but the country needs six more months to write new laws that would allow the judicial system to implement the new definitions of terrorism,” Kalin stated.
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