NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday 10 July in the evening that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had agreed to transmit Sweden's protocol of accession to the Atlantic Alliance to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and to ensure its ratification.
In a seven-point declaration published at the end of a serie of meetings in Vilnius between the President and the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in various formats, but also with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel - with whom he agreed to "reinvigorate" EU-Turkey relations - Sweden and Turkey announce a strengthening of their cooperation in security and the fight against terrorism. NATO, for its part, will step up its work in the fight against terrorism, notably by creating the post of special coordinator for the fight against terrorism.
Stockholm and Ankara will also step up their economic cooperation, and Sweden has pledged to actively support efforts to revitalise Turkey's EU accession process, including the modernisation of the EU-Turkey customs union and visa liberalisation.
See the declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/7zw
Revitalising relations with the EU
Ahead of the meetings, Mr Erdoğan had announced that his country would support Turkey's accession to the EU if the EU reopened accession negotiations.
“First open the way for Turkey to join the EU, and then we will open the way for Sweden, just as we have opened the way for Finland”, he explained.
Negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the EU have been frozen for several years due to problems with the Rule of law in Turkey.
“Almost all NATO members are members of the EU. I am speaking to those countries that have kept Turkey waiting for more than 50 years, and I will be speaking to them in Vilnius”, where the NATO Summit is being held on 11 and 12 July, said Mr Erdoğan. He added that Turkey’s agreement also depended on “fulfilling the points set out in the tripartite agreement” signed last year with Sweden and Finland in Madrid.
Asked about Mr Erdoğan’s link between NATO and the EU, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that while he supported Turkey’s ambitions to become an EU member, the conditions Sweden had to meet were a “specific list” drawn up in Madrid.
For her part, European Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant reiterated that the NATO and EU accession processes were “two separate processes”. “You cannot link the two processes in regards to Turkey and next steps with regards to enlargement”, she warned.
Hungary wants an in-depth dialogue with Sweden
For her part, the Hungarian minister, Judit Varga, came down hard on Sweden on Monday morning.
“There is a country which, for many years, attacked the country with unfounded allegations about the rule of law, about the political situation, whatsoever. And now this country is coming to ask something from the national (Hungarian) assembly”, she pointed out on her arrival at the EU ‘General Affairs’ Council in Brussels.
“This is why think we need a thorough dialogue to build up mutual trust”, she said. “It is not a secret that today the relations between Sweden and Hungary are at a very low level. So, this needs to be improved but for that we need the other part to improve it”, added the minister.
Hungary has not yet ratified Sweden’s accession to NATO. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion)