Biden shows support for Sweden’s Nato bid in talks with PM

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden showed support for Sweden’s entry into Nato in talks with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday as doubts linger that Turkey will lift its opposition in time for the military alliance’s summit next week.

Mr Biden leaves on Sunday on a three-nation trip centred around the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where alliance members hope to welcome Sweden as its newest member.

Mr Biden, seated next to Mr Kristersson in the Oval Office with reporters present, said he was “anxiously looking forward to your membership” in Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).

Mr Kristersson said after the meeting that the two leaders agreed the Vilnius meeting was a “natural time” to finalise the Nordic country’s bid to join the alliance.

“But we both also know that only Turkey can make Turkish decisions,” Mr Kristersson told reporters at the Swedish embassy in Washington.

Sweden and Finland applied for Nato membership

in 2022, ditching long-held policies of military non-alignment following

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Applications for membership must be approved by all Nato members. Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden’s bid. Finland was approved in April.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says Stockholm harbours members of militant groups, namely supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Sweden whom he accuses of organising demonstrations and financing terrorist groups.

The United States and its allies have been working to overcome Turkey’s opposition. Sweden has said it has fulfilled the demands agreed upon in negotiations with Turkey, including introducing a new Bill that makes being a member of a terrorist organisation illegal, but Mr Erdogan

has yet to signal he is ready to ratify Sweden’s application.

Sweden, Turkey and Nato will meet in Brussels on Thursday to try to find a solution before the July 11-12 summit. REUTERS