Swedish PM Pledges New Counterterror Efforts In Bid To Win Support For NATO Application

Sweden’s new prime minister is in Turkey this week to discuss efforts to meet Ankara’s demands with regard to Stockholm’s application to join NATO, reports the Hurriyet Daily News (Istanbul).

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was scheduled to meet with Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

All 30 NATO member states must approve the application of new members. Turkey has stalled Finnish and Swedish membership over allegations that the Nordic countries are harboring Kurdish terrorists.

The three countries signed an agreement in June, under which Ankara lifted its veto of the Finnish and Swedish applications in return for Helsinki and Stockholm addressing its concerns, noted Reuters.

During the talks on Tuesday, Kristersson promised legislative steps to step up Swedish counterterror efforts, including against potential members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting an insurgency against the Turkish government for decades.

On Nov. 5, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that the new government would distance itself from the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) in northern Syria, which Turkey has accused of being an extension of the PKK.

Stockholm previously supported the YPG in its fight against the Islamic State in Syria.