Representatives of the European Union, along with numerous leaders of allied countries, welcomed, on Tuesday 11 July in Vilnius, the agreement reached the previous evening between Turkey and Sweden, which should allow for the Nordic country to join NATO (see EUROPE 13219/1).
For Gitanas Nausėda, the President of Lithuania, which is hosting the NATO summit, Sweden’s accession “will significantly strengthen the Baltic Sea region and the entire Alliance”. “We are united and we are strong!”, he said on his arrival at the summit.
On Twitter, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, described the decision as a “historic step”, while the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, described it as “good news for the Swedish people and for our (EU) common security and defence policy”. “A stronger NATO makes Europe safer”, he added.
In a seven-point declaration, Turkey undertook to transmit “Sweden’s accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly, with which it will cooperate closely with a view to ratification”. Although NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explained to the media that the Turkish President had clearly indicated that this step would take place “as soon as possible”, there is no timeframe specified in the declaration.
The two parties undertook to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism, including after Sweden’s accession to NATO. This will be done in particular within the framework of “a bilateral security agreement involving annual meetings at ministerial level and the creation of working groups as appropriate”.
NATO, for its part, is going to create a post of special coordinator for the fight against terrorism.
Sweden and Turkey will also work to eliminate barriers and sanctions that hamper trade or investment between the Allies in the defence sector. Economic cooperation between the two countries will also be intensified, and the two countries will seek to exploit every opportunity to increase bilateral trade and investment.
Sweden has also pledged to support efforts to relaunch Turkey’s EU accession process, in particular the modernisation of the EU-Turkey customs union and the liberalisation of the visa regime.
“This is not an issue for NATO. This is a bilateral agreement between EU member Sweden and Turkey. But this is part of what we discussed and the joint declaration that was published”, Mr Stoltenberg told the media, adding that it was up to the EU to decide on EU enlargement.
For the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, the statement is nothing new and is in line with his country’s long-standing position on EU/Turkey relations.
“Turkey is a partner. (...) If it wants to increase its cooperation with the EU, we are open to that and we will talk”, stressed Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, welcoming Turkey’s “new degree of openness”.
In June, the European Council asked the European Commission to prepare a report on EU-Turkey relations (see EUROPE 13212/5).
Mr Stoltenberg’s statements did not please the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sánchez Amor (S&D, Spanish). “Apparently, the Secretary General of NATO has recently been appointed EU Commissioner for Enlargement, making the case for Turkey. Thanks for the unsolicited advice, but EU’s nature is completely different than NATO’s (and rightly so)”, he quipped on Twitter.
Turkey, as well as Hungary, must ratify Sweden’s accession. A move criticised by Russia, saying it would have “negative consequences”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)