Biden to host Swedish PM for talks on Nato, Ukraine
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WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson this week to talk about transatlantic security cooperation and the war in Ukraine, the White House said on Saturday.
The two leaders “will review our growing security cooperation and reaffirm their view that Sweden should join Nato as soon as possible”, the White House said in a statement about the Wednesday meeting.
Sweden asked to join Nato in May 2022,
Western officials had hoped to formally welcome Sweden into the bloc by the time a Nato summit is held in Lithuania from July 11 to 12.
But last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Sweden for allowing a protest during which a man burned pages from the Quran, further clouding the Nordic nation’s chances
“I am delighted that President Biden is inviting us to a meeting... before the Nato summit in Vilnius the following week,” Mr Kristersson said in a statement.
“The focus of the visit will be on Sweden’s Nato accession.”
The White House said Mr Biden and Mr Kristersson will also “discuss our shared commitment to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression”.
They will, in addition, talk about transatlantic coordination on China, climate change and emerging technologies.
Western officials had hoped Mr Erdogan would soften his position on Sweden’s bid to join Nato after he secured a hard-fought re-election
The focus of Mr Ulf Kristersson’s visit to the US will be Sweden’s troubled accession to Nato.
PHOTO: AFP
Western allies and Stockholm have insisted that Sweden has met the terms of a deal agreed with Ankara in 2022.
That accord includes a commitment to crack down on opposition Kurdish movements such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, blacklisted by Ankara, which considers such movements as “terrorist” groups.
Top diplomats from Turkey and Sweden will meet on Thursday, the day after Mr Kristersson’s White House visit, at the Nato headquarters in Brussels for talks on Stockholm’s bid to join the alliance.
Turkey dropped objections to Sweden’s Nordic neighbour Finland joining earlier in 2023, and Helsinki became a Nato member
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Parliament was expected to vote on Sweden’s bid by the end of its “extraordinary summer session” on July 7, but did not list it as an order of business for the session. AFP
