Discussions between Türkiye and Sweden on NATO membership have been suspended, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Saturday.
Finland this week said for the first time that it had to consider joining NATO without Sweden, whose bid appeared to grind to a halt as Ankara blasted Stockholm over anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam protests.
Finland – which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia – and Sweden applied to join NATO last year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, ending decades long policies of military nonalignment.
Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement, but rather criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements that are posing a security threat to Ankara.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist supporters and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary to gain NATO membership.
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