Turkey to send Sweden’s NATO accession protocol to Parliament swiftly

VILNIUS, Lithuania — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to send Sweden’s accession protocol for joining NATO to the Turkish Parliament “as soon as possible” and to help ensure that the assembly approves it.

Stoltenberg made the announcement after talks with Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the eve of a NATO summit in Lithuania. Sweden’s NATO accession has been held up by objections from Turkey since last year.

“This is an historic day because we have a clear commitment by Turkey to submit the ratification documents to the Grand National Assembly, and to work also with the assembly to ensure ratification,” Stoltenberg told reporters.

Earlier Monday, with NATO hoping to put on a public display of unity in its support for Ukraine more than 500 days into the war, Erdogan said that he would block Sweden’s path unless European members of the military organization “pave the way” for Turkey to join the world’s biggest trading bloc.

His surprise announcement added new uncertainty to Sweden’s bid to become the alliance’s 32nd member. Turkey was already blocking its entry because Erdogan believes that Sweden has been too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that he considers to be security threats.

On arriving in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, where U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will hold two days of talks starting on Tuesday, Erdogan first met with Kristersson, before breaking off for a separate meeting with European Council President Charles Michel.

Michel tweeted that he and Erdogan had “explored opportunities ahead to bring cooperation back to the forefront and re-energise our relations.” Michel said he has tasked the European Commission to draw up a “report with a view to proceed in strategic and forward-looking manner.”

Turkey is a candidate to join the EU, but its membership talks have been at a standstill since 2018 due to democratic backsliding during Erdogan’s presidency, concerns about the rule of law and rights abuses, as well as disputes with EU-member Cyprus.

Erdogan’s new demand was the first time that he had linked his country’s ambition to join the EU with Sweden’s efforts to become a NATO member.

“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,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul. “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.”

“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,” he added.

Earlier, Erdogan’s office said he told U.S. President Joe Biden during a telephone call Sunday that Turkey wanted a “clear and strong” message of support for Turkey’s EU ambitions from the NATO leaders. The White House readout of the Biden-Erdogan call did not mention the issue of Turkish EU membership.

“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,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul, before flying to Vilnius.

“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 said. “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.”

Erdogan’s government has postponed ratifying Sweden’s accession, saying the administration in Stockholm needs to do more to crack down on Kurdish militants and other groups. A series of anti-Turkey and anti-Islam protests in Sweden’s capital raised doubts that an agreement to satisfy Turkey’s demands could be reached before the NATO summit.

Turkey’s delaying tactics have irritated other NATO allies including the United States. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, confirmed Sunday that Biden and Erdogan had spoken about Sweden’s NATO membership among other issues and had agreed to meet in Vilnius for further talks.

Sullivan said the White House is confident Sweden will join the alliance.

“We don’t regard this as something that is fundamentally in doubt. This is a matter of timing. The sooner the better,” he said.

Previously non-aligned Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine . Finland joined in April following Turkish ratification.

Another key issue in Vilnius will be how to bring Ukraine closer to NATO without actually joining, and security guarantees Kyiv might need to ensure that Russia doesn’t invade again after the war ends. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky will join the summit in person on Wednesday.

Stoltenberg said the most important thing was to continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to resist the Russian invasion.

“Unless Ukraine prevails there is no membership issue to discuss at all,” he said.

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. AP White House reporter Chris Megerian in London contributed to this report.

立陶宛维尔纽斯——北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格周一表示，土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安已同意“尽快”将瑞典加入北约的加入议定书提交土耳其议会，并帮助确保议会批准该议定书。

斯托尔滕贝格在与埃尔多安和瑞典首相乌尔夫·克里斯特松会谈后宣布了这一消息，会谈是在北约峰会于立陶宛举行前夕进行的。自去年以来，由于土耳其的反对，瑞典加入北约的进程一直受阻。

斯托尔滕贝格告诉记者：“今天是历史性的一天，因为土耳其方面明确承诺将批准文件提交给土耳其大国民议会，并与议会合作以确保批准。”

周一早些时候，北约希望在战争持续 500 多天后公开展示其对乌克兰的团结支持，埃尔多安表示，除非该军事组织的欧洲成员国为土耳其加入世界上最大的贸易集团“铺平道路”，否则他将阻止瑞典加入北约。

他出人意料的声明给瑞典加入北约第32个成员国的努力增添了新的不确定性。土耳其此前已阻止瑞典入盟，因为埃尔多安认为瑞典对库尔德武装分子和其他他视为安全威胁的组织过于软弱。

埃尔多安抵达立陶宛首都维尔纽斯后，首先会见了克里斯特松，随后又与欧洲理事会主席查尔斯·米歇尔举行了单独会晤。美国总统乔·拜登和他的同行们将于周二开始在维尔纽斯举行为期两天的会谈。

米歇尔在推特上表示，他和埃尔多安“探讨了未来将合作重新置于首要位置并重振两国关系的机会”。米歇尔说，他已责成欧盟委员会起草一份“报告，以便以战略性和前瞻性的方式推进合作”。

土耳其是欧盟候选国，但自 2018 年以来，由于埃尔多安总统执政期间民主倒退、对法治和侵犯人权的担忧，以及与欧盟成员国塞浦路斯的争端，其入盟谈判一直处于停滞状态。

埃尔多安的新要求是他首次将土耳其加入欧盟的愿望与瑞典加入北约的努力联系起来。

埃尔多安在伊斯坦布尔对记者说：“土耳其已经在欧盟大门外等待了50多年，而几乎所有北约成员国现在都已成为欧盟成员国。我呼吁这些让土耳其在欧盟大门外等待了50多年的国家尽快加入欧盟。”

“来吧，为土耳其加入欧盟铺平道路。你们为土耳其铺平道路，我们也会像为芬兰铺平道路一样，为瑞典铺平道路。”他补充道。

此前，埃尔多安办公室表示，他在周日与美国总统拜登的通话中表示，土耳其希望北约领导人发出“明确而强烈的”支持信号，支持土耳其加入欧盟的愿望。白宫发布的拜登-埃尔多安通话纪要并未提及土耳其加入欧盟的问题。

“土耳其在欧盟大门外等待了50多年，而几乎所有北约成员国现在都已成为欧盟成员国，”埃尔多安在飞往维尔纽斯之前在伊斯坦布尔告诉记者。

“我呼吁那些让土耳其在欧盟大门外苦等了50多年的国家，”他说，“来吧，为土耳其加入欧盟铺平道路。当你们为土耳其铺平道路时，我们也会像为芬兰铺平道路一样，为瑞典铺平道路。”

埃尔多安政府推迟了对瑞典加入北约的批准，称斯德哥尔摩当局需要采取更多措施打击库尔德武装分子和其他组织。瑞典首都发生的一系列反土耳其和反伊斯兰抗议活动，使人们对能否在北约峰会前达成满足土耳其要求的协议产生了怀疑。

土耳其的拖延战术激怒了包括美国在内的其他北约盟国。拜登的国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文周日证实，拜登和埃尔多安就瑞典北约成员国身份等问题进行了交谈，并同意在维尔纽斯举行进一步会谈。

沙利文表示，白宫相信瑞典会加入该联盟。

“我们并不认为这件事从根本上存在疑问。这只是时机问题。越快越好，”他说。

此前不结盟的瑞典和芬兰在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后于去年申请加入北约。芬兰在土耳其批准后于今年4月正式加入。

维尔纽斯峰会的另一个关键议题是如何在不实际加入北约的情况下拉近乌克兰与北约的距离，以及基辅可能需要的安全保障，以确保俄罗斯在战争结束后不会再次入侵。乌克兰总统泽连斯基将于周三亲自出席峰会。

斯托尔滕贝格表示，最重要的是继续支持乌克兰抵抗俄罗斯入侵的努力。

他说：“除非乌克兰获胜，否则根本就不存在成员资格问题需要讨论。”

弗雷泽从土耳其安卡拉报道。美联社驻伦敦白宫记者克里斯·梅格里安对本报道亦有贡献。