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NATO not ready yet for Sweden’s membership, says Erdogan

"As long as Sweden continues to allow the offshoots of terror groups in Turkey to roam free in Sweden, in the streets of Stockholm, we cannot look favorably on Sweden’s membership in NATO," the Turkish leader said

ANKARA, May 19. /TASS/. NATO is not ready for Sweden’s membership now, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with CNN on Friday.

"As long as Sweden continues to allow the offshoots of terror groups in Turkey to roam free in Sweden, in the streets of Stockholm, we cannot look favorably on Sweden’s membership in NATO," Erdogan said.

"We’re not ready for Sweden right now," he added. "Because a NATO country should have a strong stance when it comes to fighting terrorism."

In May 2022, Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership, but their entry bid was stonewalled by Ankara. Turkey demanded that the Nordic countries designate Kurdish organizations as terrorist and extradite those to Turkey who are accused of terrorist activity or aiding and abetting the attempted coup in 2016. On March 31, the Turkish parliament ratified a protocol on Finland’s joining the alliance, which came into effect on April 1.

As far as Sweden is concerned, Ankara still indicates that Stockholm needs to amend its counterterrorism laws to meet Turkey’s requirements. These amendments should come into effect this summer, which is what Ankara is looking forward to in order to again assess Sweden’s bid.

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Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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