Sweden to Fulfill Agreement with Turkey on NATO Membership

Sweden will fulfill the agreement signed with Turkey regarding NATO membership until the end; it will not engage in dialogue with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden is on an official visit to Turkey. The main topics of negotiation will include the implementation of the agreement on Sweden's and Finland's NATO membership signed at the Madrid summit, relations between the EU and Turkey, and global and regional issues.

"I would like to inform you that the Swedish parliament has started work on creating an inter-parliamentary 'friendship group' with Turkey. Sweden will fulfill the memorandum until the end. Sweden will not engage in dialogue with the PKK," Kristersson's words were quoted by the Star newspaper.

In the context of events in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO to the alliance's Secretary General on May 18. Initially, Turkey had blocked the process of reviewing these applications, but on June 29, Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed a security memorandum that addressed all of Ankara's concerns. Turkey, in turn, lifted its objections regarding the NATO membership of these two countries.

As of October 6, 28 out of 30 countries, except for Turkey and Hungary, have adopted positive decisions regarding the NATO membership of these northern countries.